This Isn't Pride and Prejudice
by OCD ADD Goldfish
Summary: When three Slytherins join the DA, Harry finds himself reevaluating what he thought to be true about Slytherins and maybe falling for a girl unlike any he'd ever known. Rating may change. Eventual Harry/Tracey, Hermione/Blaise and Neville/Daphne. Somewhat AU from OoTP.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **World of Harry Potter does not belong to me but to the awesome J. K. Rowling. I mean if Harry were mine he wouldn't have ended up with Ginny Weasley. Maybe with Luna, or a Slytherin... hell even Snape woulda been better. :P But that's just my opinion.

Also For the "Make Me Beautiful Challenge" and "The If You Dare Challenge."

**A/n: **I don't usually write these kinds of stories, mostly because it's leads to OOC-ness. The Golden Trio befriending Slytherins is quite a bit of a stretch, even if Tracey, Blaise, and Daphne are not fleshed out by any means during the series. However, I'm going to try to make this story ring true while incorporating the elements from the Challenge. Though, that being said, the story will be somewhat AU, starting from OoTP.

However, I'd really appreciate reviews. They help to keep me motivated, and keep my posting chapters; though I can't guarantee writer's block won't rear it's ugly head. Like I said, these kinds of stories are a challenge for me, so please bear with me.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoy the story. :)

**Prompt:** Crazy (#261)

**~x~X~x~**

**This Isn't Pride and Prejudice**

**~x~X~x~**

**Chapter 1**

"Why the hell are we doing this?" Blaise complained from where he stalked a few feet behind the short, witch with vibrant, but dark-red hair.

"Because Tracey coerced us into it, like she does into everything," Daphne replied with a small smile twisting her pretty lips, even as she pulled the hood of her cloak even higher to cover her golden hair.

"You shouldn't sound so cheerful. You do realize we're heading into a situation that we've been warned against since first year, where we will surrounded by members of the other three houses and be vastly outnumbered," Blaise reasoned, though to Tracey, it sounded more like grousing.

"Stop being a drama-queen, Blaise. It's not like we're marching into battle! Besides, aren't you tired of being misrepresented by Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle? This is our chance to change the way the other houses view us! And anyway, you're with me. Terry and Anthony will vouch for me if we're spotted," Tracey stated with a huff, panting for breath as she led the way through the crowded street.

"You have far too much confidence in your Ravens... besides, it's not you I'm worried about," Blaise stated darkly. "And when did you become such a happy-go-lucky optimist?"

"I've always been a hourglass half-full kind of girl," Tracey replied in sardonic tones before stopping in her tracks, and whirling around, her red-hair flaring around, so that she could fix Blaise with a glare. "And you know Blaise, if you're too afraid, you can tuck your tail between your legs and go back to silently disdaining Draco while being bored out of your mind by the scintillating company of Crabbe and Goyle. Daphne and I will be perfectly safe on our own."

Blaise glared darkly down at the short girl.

Tracey seemed satisfied when Blaise didn't make a move to leave. Turning around, Tracey started to march back towards the Hog's Head, not wanting to be late.

"That was a little harsh, don't you think?" Daphne asked in whispered tones as she moved to catch up to Tracey, while Blaise brought up the rear.

"Nothing will ever change if we don't try to change it, Daph. I'm, personally, tired of being seen with suspicions by every Puff and Gryffindor at school. I'm tired of them making assumptions about me because they have some preconceived idea what it means to be a Slytherin. I'm not trying to change everyone's views on Slytherins, because I know that there are enough of us that support those views our House is known for. But I just want some of them to see, that we're not ALL like that," Tracey ranted until the building finally came to view and the trio paused.

Daphne smiled slightly. Tracey always had a way with words, and she always knew what to say, even if sometimes that meant saying nothing at all. But it was definitely a balancing act, and Daphne wasn't really sure how Tracey managed to be on good terms with even Draco and Pansy.

"I hope you know what you're getting us into, Trace," Blaise stated with a sigh, pulling up the hood of his own cloak.

"We will be in a lot of trouble if anyone else from our House found out," Daphne stated with a frown, feeling her stomach muscles tightening with fear.

Tracey frowned slightly, wondering if she really had bullied her friends into coming along with her. Looking from one to the other, she paused to consider that they might have more to lose than she did. After all, her reputation in Slytherin was already somewhat tarnished, what with being a half-blood.

"You guys, you don't have to come with me," she stated, though in much softer tone then when she'd snapped at them before.

"We're not leaving you alone, Trace," Daphne stated with a roll of her eyes, her tone showing her exasperation.

"We're Slytherins. We stick together... even if our leader is crazy," Blaise stated, his lips twisted into a slight smirk.

Tracey couldn't help smiling, pulling both her friends into a hug. That was another thing about Tracey; she was warm and affectionate. She had an easy way about touching people that, while shocking at first, quickly grew on them. For Slytherins usually starved for affection, she was the comfort they'd never received.

Pulling away, the trio set back on their course. Tracey pulled up her hood of her own cloak, like Blaise and Daphne as the Hog's Head came into view.

"How quaint," Daphne stated with her delicate nose, upturned in disgust as they stepped inside. Blaise too, gave the tavern a disapproving look with a sweep of his syrup-colored eyes. However, Tracey was quick to usher her friends out of the doorway and blend into the background, all the while keeping a look out for her two Ravenclaw friends.

It wasn't long before she spotted Terry, being as the boy was taller than everyone else in the room. His height, being at almost six feet, was only rivaled by that of Theodore Nott. However, where Theo hunched, Terry did not, making Terry seem the taller of the two.

The dark-haired boy easily stood out amongst everyone else and Tracey couldn't help smiling as she pulled her two friends behind her, holding onto their arms. When she was behind Terry and Anthony, she poked Terry in the shoulder, causing the boy to turn.

Lifting her hood so that her face was visible to Terry, she smiled up at the boy.

"Hello handsome," she greeted, grabbing the boy by his cloak and pulling him towards her so that she could place a peck on his cheek, which colored slightly as he cocked a shy smile at her.

"_Handsome_?" she heard Blaise muttering behind her to Daphne. An _oomph_ of pain was all Tracey heard and she imagined her blonde-headed friend had just elbowed her pretty-boy.

Tracey tried to hide her discomfort as she turned to Anthony Goldstein and enveloped him in a brief and friendly hug.

She sincerely hoped that Terry hadn't heard Blaise's comment. Terry wasn't a very good-looking boy, and while the boy was aware of it and comfortable with the fact, she still didn't like the fact that Blaise was making fun of him for his looks.

"You made it," Anthony stated, grinning at Tracey, while Terry did his silent-type thing, and said nothing.

"Well what else am I going to do with my weekend? Gossip about the state of your curls?" Tracey teased before reaching out to ruffle Anthony's slightly curly mop of blonde hair. Anthony's light brown eyes glinted with amusement as he shook off Tracey's hand. "What's this I hear that you started dating Morag McDougal?!"

At this, Terry snorted. "He wishes," he muttered, almost inaudibly.

"Hey, you be nice," Tracey stated, poking Terry in his side as Anthony turned red. "Anyway, you guys know Blaise and Daphne, right?"

Both boys nodded before offering different greetings before locking their gaze back on Tracey. Tracey sighed, unsure if she was ever going to manage to get Blaise and Daphne to be at all friendly to _outsiders_. It was like, whenever there were members of the other houses around, they both put frost charms on themselves and were therefore perceived to be conceited and arrogant by everyone.

Well with Blaise, it went beyond simply being unsmiling and painfully curt but civil. He was downright cold and rude.

"We should find seats, I think they're going to start soon," Daphne piped up, causing Terry and Anthony to turn. They all nodded and moved around, Tracey, Daphne and Blaise strategically placing themselves behind the Ravenclaws and hiding in the back, keeping their hoods drawn enough to hide their identities, but not so much that it was conspicuous.

"There are a lot of people here," Daphne commented, leaning in close to her friends. "I didn't think there would be so many."

"Me either," Tracey whispered in turn.

"Well, at least this should prove interesting," Blaise deadpanned.

xXx

"By the way... did you get a look at the three sitting behind Terry Boot?" Harry asked as he, Ron and Hermione left scrivenshaft.

Hermione furrowed her brow, ignoring Ron and who was still complaining about Ginny dating Michael Corner.

"Yeah... in the hoods. I couldn't get a good look at them, but I meant to look at the list to see who they were," Hermione stated, reaching into her bag and pulling out the list. Harry paused beside her, tempted to look over her shoulder, but he didn't think he'd be able to spot who the names belonged to. "Oh!"

"What?" Ron and Harry both asked, to which Hermione merely tilted the parchment towards them and pointed to a set of names. However, Harry couldn't really read two of the names, because the signatures were too fancy and complex, as if written by people who'd taken calligraphy. He was only able to read the name that was sharp, slightly slanted, but simple.

"Who is Tracey Davis?" Harry asked with a furrowed brow.

Hermione stashed the list away and started walking. "She's in our year. She has dark-red hair," Hermione explained, chewing on her lip, uncertain what it meant and what Harry would make of it as she wasn't even certain what to make of it, though the thoughts that _did_ come to mind, worried her. But she knew, given Harry's confused expression, that she didn't have much of a choice and if _they_ really intended to participate, he'd find out sooner or later. "She's in Slytherin."

Harry stopped in his tracks, unable to process what Hermione was saying.

"What?" Ron asked, completely going off the handle. "But... how did a snake even find out?!"

"Hang on, she's in our year? How have I never noticed her before?" Harry asked while Hermione tried to tell Ron to keep it down. Though, Harry was no less troubled by the fact that a Slytherin was in their group. Surely she was spying, right?

"Well... when I've seen her with other Slytherins, she's always in the background and she never says anything," Hermione replied, chewing on the inside of her cheek in thought.

"Who are the other two?" Harry asked.

"Daphne Greengrass and Blaise Zabini," Hermione replied to which Ron made a noise.

"Great... the Ice Princess and the Black-Widow's son," Ron stated with great prejudice. "They're trying to sabotage us! You realize that, right?"

"Black Widow?" Harry asked, confused as he turned to look at his friends. It seemed Hermione wasn't anymore enlightened on the subject as she too turned to look at Ron for clarification.

"His mum, she's suspected of killing her last like... six or so husbands, all of whom have left her their fortunes," Ron explained.

"If she's suspected of killing her husbands, why do men keep marrying her?" Hermione asked.

"Well... she's supposed to be extremely beautiful. Its what she's famous for, apart from all her husbands dying," Ron stated before frowning. "And now we've got her pretty-boy son to deal with."

"Do you think they'll out us?" Harry asked with concern. For his part, he'd never really noticed Tracey, Daphne and Blaise. Granted, he at least knew what the latter two looked like.

After all, Blaise was a boy with skin the color of milk-chocolate, with very high cheekbones and slanted eyes. He had an exotic look, and a lot of girls seemed to find hims incredibly handsome. Harry was sure he even heard Lavender and Parvati rate him as the best looking boy in their year. Though, how anyone could think of an arrogant, elitist boy like _that_, likable at all, was beyond him.

Daphne Greengrass, was easily the most beautiful girl in their year, too. She was a willowy blonde, with a slender figure and extremely pretty face. She had eyes that were warm brown and hair that was wavy and fell in soft curls of spun gold, down to her waist. However, she had a reputation for never smiling. And she never spoke to anyone outside of Slytherin, least not more than a handful of words that were delivered in cool and detached tones and she never seemed to address someone while looking directly at them, always directing her words above their shoulder, as if they were not good enough for her to speak directly to.

"Well... they signed their names, they've agreed not to speak of it to anyone," Hermione reasoned, her brows deeply furrowed; now wondering if perhaps she should have told everyone before they left that their was a jinx on the parchment for any who broke their word.

"Like you can trust them to keep their word, just because they signed their names," Ron muttered sarcastically.

"This could be over before we even really get started," Harry admitted grimly.

**TBC...**

Reviews keep my motivated to write, so if you like this story so far, please review!


	2. Chapter 2

**A/n: **I want to say thanks to everyone who has faved and followed. I'm really impressed that so many people think this story has potential that fast. I was like _'Wow!'_ at the response to this. :)

Special thanks, to everyone who took the time to review. It was awesome to hear from you guys, so this update is for you! Think of it as a gift, because I'm going to try to update once a week, most likely on Tuesday or Wednesdays.

**Prompt:** Conceding (#165)

**Chapter 2**

At dinner that evening, Hermione pointed the trio of Slytherins to Harry discreetly.

Tracey Davis was a petite, very pretty witch. That was the first thing he noticed about the girl whose hair was dark, but had a red gleam to it. Her skin was pale, blemish-free, and looked like it'd be soft as rose petals.

She sat beside Daphne Greengrass, who was a good head taller than Tracey. The two girls seemed amused by something as Tracey leaned against the taller girl, a hand covering her mouth, her eyes crinkled shut in laughter while Daphne stared down at her friend with the corners of her lips turned up which Harry thought was amazing.

And here he'd always thought of Daphne Greengrass' face like a mask of porcelain crafted into a lifeless expression.

However, no matter how much Harry stared, he couldn't think of any positive reasons for three Slytherins joining their Defense group. It was simply too suspicious.

"I'll ask around, see if I can find who invited them, and see what else I can learn about them," Hermione promised, looking every bit as worried as Harry.

On Monday morning, Harry and Ron thought their fears were proven right.

"Those sneaky, bloody snakes! They must've told," Ron groused. However, both boys jumped in surprise when Hermione piped up from behind them.

"They couldn't have," Hermione said with a frown, now staring at the notice disbanding all clubs and student organizations.

"Don't be so naive!" Ron snapped, causing Hermione to roll her eyes and explain about the jinx she'd placed on the parchment everyone signed as they made their way to the Great Hall for breakfast.

It became clear very quickly, that the notices had gone up in the other House common rooms as well. The entire hall was buzzing, and Harry, Ron and Hermione were soon accosted by people asking whether or not the group was still on.

For his part, Harry was distracted, looking at the Slytherin table where he quickly spotted the three Slytherins. However, none of them seemed to have their visages marked. Though, he couldn't really see Daphne Greengrass as she was sitting with her back to him. Opposite of her sat Blaise Zabini and Tracey Davis, who was braiding her hair into a plait as she listened with a slight smile to whatever her friends were saying.

"Doesn't look like they're jinxed," Harry observed aloud as Hermione managed to gesture to the Hufflepuff's not to approach them then and there in view of all the teachers. "They don't seem to even be disturbed in the least about the notice. Do you think they don't know?"

"They probably do, but they're Slytherins, they're sneaky like that," Ron replied with a glare at the Slytherins, earning himself an exasperated look from Hermione.

"Honestly Ronald, even if they are just acting normal, that's not something to scorn at. Not presently, when we might be watched by Umbridge. I wish those other idiots would show a bit more discretion, I mean... it's supposed to be secret, for Merlin's sake," Hermione huffed causing Ron to sulk and Harry to look at her with his brows raised. "Even if we don't know what they're up to, we should try to keep an open-mind."

Ron huffed at this in disagreement, but didn't say anything more. For his part, Harry was torn between Hermione's logic, and his own beliefs about Slytherins based on the last four years of school and dealing with Draco Malfoy and his lot.

xXx

"Have you ever seen Longbottom like that?" Blaise asked in low tones, brows raised, but his face otherwise neutral on Monday as they took their seats in their, double-potions class.

"I wonder what got into him... although, that was an awful thing of Draco to make fun of, the state of those people in St. Mungo's spell damage ward is not something to laugh about," Daphne replied, her features contorting into a frown of serious disapproval, her tone taking a sad note as she spoke of those people whose minds were severely affected by spells.

Tracey didn't reply, unsure whether she should share the sensitive information she was privy to about Longbottom. If it were her, she was sure she wouldn't want anyone to know. Especially not with people like Malfoy around.

"Is it really surprising though?" Tracey asked drily in quiet tones from where she sat between her to friends, near the back of the Slytherin side of the class. "Draco always makes jokes in poor taste... or that are just stupid."

The three Slytherins shut up as Millicent took the last seat at their table and Snape slammed the dungeons door shut. They listened silently as he gave them their instructions, after briefly pointing out that Umbridge was monitoring their class.

"Oh no, it's the toad," Daphne breathed.

"Or Umbitch," Millicent piped from where she sat, her lips barely moving as her lips quirked into a smirk.

Tracey looked around Daphne and to where Millicent was seated at the far right.

"That's clever Millie, I love it!" Tracey stated, offering a smile towards the large, unattractive girl, who had a sweeter side than anyone would believe. Millicent looked over at Tracey with a proud smile, before they all set to work on their potion.

As class went on, Tracey, Blaise and Daphne discreetly took turns listening in on the questions Umbitch asked of Snape. Each exchanging amused smirks at Professor Snape's short, clipped answers.

"That's our beloved Head!" Tracey whispered to her two best friends, earning amused looks.

xXx

"So is this Defense group really going to happen, even with Umbridge's notice?" Daphne asked later in the day as the three Slytherins sat in their private nook in the library. Ironically enough, it was on the second level, located by the old and abandoned, Muggle Literature section which they took up at some point in first year when they realized that no one EVER came back here.

"Anthony and Terry both say that the club isn't canceled," Tracey replied, leaning back on the two back legs of her chair, ignoring her Defense book before her.

"Where did you see your precious Ravens?" Blaise asked, his brow furrowing, though he did not look up from the book he was perusing. Tracey and Daphne, both looked at the boy with enviable, milk-chocolate skin. Out of the three, Blaise had the prettiest skin. It was smooth, and completely blemish free. No spots, no marks, no blemishes.

For her part, Daphne had to use rigorous potions to keep her acne from popping up. And used concealment charms for the singular pimple that now and then, somehow managed to survive the strong potions. It was a secret that no one but Tracey and Blaise knew, that Slytherin's Beauty Queen actually had oily skin.

"Seriously Blaise, you're such a spoiled brat," Tracey stated teasingly, though she smiled fondly at the boy who was slouched somehow regally in his chair, his legs propped up and crossed on the table.

Blaise briefly looked up, an offended expression on his face as he stopped paging through the book in his hands.

"How am I a brat?"

"The question should really be, how aren't you," Tracey snorted. "You're so jealous that I have friends in Ravenclaw. You don't have to worry poppet, that doesn't mean I can't make time for you."

"I do not get jealous!" Blaise snapped, losing his cool, his usually disdainful but detached expression contorting with vexation and embarrassment.

"No, she's right," Daphne stated matter-of-factly. "Tracey is like your favorite toy, and you're not the type for sharing. You can't stand it when anyone else plays with her. You barely wanted to share with me when we were first years, and I talked to her first!"

"Okay, that sounded grossly sexual," Tracey said with her nose wrinkled. "But I concede, it's an accurate metaphor."

"Like I'd ever see you sexually," Blaise sneered. "Not that you're not a total looker, Trace, but you're like a little sister to me. You too, Daffs, although you're more like my lesbian cousin."

"I am not a lesbian!" Daphne hissed, affronted, leaning into the table, her blonde hair dragging across the table-top and her hazel eyes sharp like daggers.

"Really? Then why have you never dated or even mention liking a boy?" Blaise asked, arching a brow at Daphne, clearly finding amusement that the tables had turned.

"Maybe because I'm private!" Daphne snapped, though mindful to keep her tone quiet as a) they were in the library and b) anyone could be lurking nearby, even if they cast a light silencing spell around them.

"You can't use that excuse, Daph, ALL Slytherins are private... or discreet... duplicitous-"

"We get your point, Blaise," Tracey stated dryly with a roll of her light green eyes.

"Well I have standards!" Daphne stated icily, crossing her arms over her abundant chest.

"Which are? Wealth, status and looks don't seem to factor... since you turned down Draco. Though, I suppose that's just good taste as he is a complete prat."

"All right children... that's enough," Tracey stated, thinking it was time to intervene before her friends started to row in earnest and knowing how sensitive and private Daphne was about her romantic life. Or anything that related to it, or rather the lack of it. "What are you reading, anyway, Blaise?"

Blaise looked briefly at the small, leather-bound book.

"Macbeth. Muggles have a funny view of magic... but the language is elegant. You have to hand it to the muggles, their literature is far more artful than ours," Blaise stated, though his tones were quiet and in spite of the praise clear in the words themselves, he said it with an air of condescension.

Tracey rolled her eyes at her snobbish friend.

"Blaise, you should be glad your so good-looking and not as stupid as most boys, otherwise you have no hopes of ever finding real love," Tracey stated dryly, earning herself a parchment ball to the face.

"Unlike both of you old maids, I'm not lacking in attention from the opposite sex, and have actually been on more than one date," Blaise retorted.

"But there is never a second date, with the same girl," Daphne pointed out with a look.

"And that's by _my_ choice," Blaise replied darkly, now turning his full attention to his book.

Daphne opened her mouth to say something before being stepped on by Tracey. Daphne bit into her plump, bottom lip to keep from making a noise of pain, and turned to look at Tracey questioningly. However, one look from the red-haired girl told her that she was to stop badgering Blaise now on his dating habits.

Like Daphne, Blaise was also touchy where his romantic life was involved. And Tracey couldn't really blame the boy. It wasn't really his fault that he was so spoiled and pampered by his mother, the very same woman who was the reason for his deep-seeded distrust and contempt of most females. So much so, that Tracey doubted Blaise would ever be capable of a serious, long-term relationship of the romantic persuasion with a woman.

Thankfully, Daphne had consideration for people's feelings, unlike Blaise, so she chose to shut up.

"We should head to dinner," Tracey said with a sigh as she noted how late it was.

The other two nodded their heads and proceeded to pack up their things.

"Did you even get any work done?" Blaise asked as he slung his bag over his shoulder, looking at the short girl questioningly. Tracey shook her head in response, to which Blaise shook his head. "You're hopeless."

"I'm _brilliant_," Tracey bantered easily, threading one of her arms through Daphne's.

"You're arrogant," Daphne teased, poking Tracey in the rib, making the girl jolt momentarily and flash a glare.

"You're jealous," Tracey sing-songed.

"You're delusional," Daphne replied succinctly.

"You're both bloody annoying," Blaise gritted out, looking up as if asking the heavens why he'd been cursed with the two twits beside him.

Tracey and Daphne giggled.

"Okay troops, game faces on," Tracey whispered, before smoothing her face into a bored expression as they started to descend the stairs to the lower level. She didn't have to look at either of her friends to know that they'd both smoothed their masks into unfathomable expressions, Blaise's more brooding than either of the girls he walked besides.

Life was complicated, confusing... but they were Slytherins. They found ways to not only survive, but thrive. And so Tracey tried not to worry too much about her friends respective emotional states, and whether or not they'd ever be able to allow themselves to trust anyone else enough to get out of their shells.

But the protective streak in her, couldn't help it. And the devious and scheming part of her, couldn't help running through candidates that might be able to get her friends out of their shells, and not hurt them.

**TBC...**

I love hearing from you guys and hearing your thoughts. Suggestions would also be welsome so please remember to review!


	3. Chapter 3

**A/n: **Thanks again to everyone who reviewed. You guys are awesome. So here is the next chapter as promised, hope you guys like it. :)

** Prompt:** Between The (a?) Rock and the (a?) Hard Place (#293)

**Chapter 3**

"Do you think the Slytherins will actually show?" Harry asked as he settled down on the cushions with Hermione and Ron in the Room of Requirement for the first meeting of their Defense group. The room was now halfway full, and Ron was currently engaged in chat with his brothers.

"I don't know," Hermione replied in low tones, looking up from the book she was reading. She looked around the room which was buzzing with chatter. It looked like half of the people who signed up to attend were already settled around, hanging out in groups of three or more, marveling at the room or chatting about random things.

"I tried to ask around, but I didn't get very far. I stuck to the Ravenclaws, who signed up, because I really can't see any of the Hufflepuffs associating with the Slytherins. But none of those that I managed to ask seem to have ever talked to either of the three. Although-"

"Look, they're here," Harry interrupted, pointing towards the door which just opened, admitting the group of three Slytherins. Harry found it interesting that in the lead, not looking the least bit uncomfortable, was the shortest of the three.

Tracey Davis sauntered into the room with effortless grace, her eyes wide as she looked around the room. Not at those seated, but at the room itself, and a genuinely impressed and curious look was etched onto her small features.

The other two on the other hand, seemed extremely stiff to Harry. The expressions on their faces were reserved and wary as they looked around as if assessing possible danger to their person.

"We should go talk to them," Harry said.

Hermione worried her lip. "We have to have tact, Harry."

Harry twisted his lips. He didn't very much like it, but he nodded his head, thinking that Hermione was usually right. "Should we grab Ron?"

"No. We wouldn't get anywhere with them if he came along. You've heard what he's said since Saturday," Hermione replied, whispering to Harry.

Harry didn't like it. But again, he knew that Hermione had a point. Even if he was every bit as suspicious, and wasn't sure if he'd be able to keep his temper if the Slytherins started anything.

"Okay then, let's go," Harry said, letting Hermione get up and following her to where the Slytherins had perched themselves on some cushions, though the only one that looked at all comfortable with this action was Tracey Davis, who was sitting indian style in spite of the fact that she was wearing a skirt. However, the pleats of the skirt made it possible for her to do so without causing the skirt to expose her.

Harry scoffed, wondering if the other two were concerned about getting their clothes dirty or thought themselves superior to sitting so close to the ground.

For her part, Hermione was trying to gesture to the others that were turning to look at them, that the meeting wasn't starting yet. Telling them that they were still waiting for the rest.

"Hi," Hermione said uncertainly, dropping into a cushion in front of Tracey. Her skin flushed as three sets of eyes turned to scrutinize her closely, and though the three eyes were different colored, they felt like hawk gazes on her. It was extremely uncomfortable and unnerving.

"Hey," Tracey replied with a nod of her head, her tone light but still guarded and a polite smile on her lips. The Slytherin girl then turned to Harry and raised a brow at him as the boy remained towering over them, causing the other two Slytherins to shift, as if ready to spring to their feet as quickly as snake could strike.

For a moment, Harry found himself caught by the Tracey Davis' green eyes. They seemed to be a very light shade of green that was stunning to him because he'd never quite seen such coloring before. They were very light, with an outer-rim that was slightly darker and made him think of exotic fruits.

Hermione tugged at Harry's arm impatiently, causing Harry to fall, his backside barely catching the edge of a cushion. For a moment, Harry glared at Hermione, wondering what the hell she'd done that for, but the bushy-haired girl didn't turn to look at him and continued to smile uncertainly at the Slytherins.

Harry turned to glare at the haughty boy, whom the sound of a scoff distinctively came from. His hands balled into fist as he saw the boy with syrup-colored eyes, smirking at him. Momentarily he found himself wondering if all Slytherins were pulled aside and given private lessons on smirking in a way that could cause anyone to erupt with annoyance.

"To what do we owe the pleasure?" Tracey asked, her tone of intrigue striped with sarcasm.

"We've never been formally introduced, I'm Hermione Granger. And of course, you know Harry Potter," Hermione introduced, unsure how to ask the burning questions in her mind with subtlety.

"We know who you are," Blaise snapped.

"I'm Tracey Davis, in case you didn't know. And to my right is the lovely Daphne Greengrass, and on my left is the perfect cad, Blaise Zabini," Tracey introduced in teasing tones with a sheepish smile, thinking she'd have to have a talk with Blaise curbing his attitude to be at least civil.

"So you are interested in Defense?" Hermione asked, trying for cavalier curiosity as she looked at all three Slytherins.

"No, not really; it's a dreadful bore," Tracey replied, shaking her head causing Hermione to look at her with her mouth gaping open like a fish. "That was a joke," Tracey explained dully a few moments later, raising a brow at Hermione.

Hermione smiled a little. "Oh, right," she stated, blushing and trying to ignore the way that Blaise Zabini was smirking at her and the Ice Princess was frowning at her with a look that clearly seemed to doubt her intelligence. "Out of curiosity, how did you hear about the meeting?" Hermione tried for sounding merely curious.

For a moment, the Slytherins remained silent, both Daphne and Blaise waiting for Tracey it seemed. Harry looked towards the girl expectantly, and wondered what she was thinking as her eyes momentarily seemed to cloud over.

"Anthony told me about it," Tracey replied after a few seconds with a shrug of her shoulders, seemingly deciding that it was information not worth guarding. "It seemed a good idea, and I doubted that there would be anyone to represent Slytherin and I just couldn't help rectifying that and dragging my friends along for the ride."

"We didn't mean to overlook, that is to say-" Hermione floundered, once more turning pink.

Tracey held up a hand and gave Hermione a small, understanding smile though there was a shine to her eyes that was difficult to interpret. "It's all right, you don't have to explain it. Besides some Ravenclaws, no one else really bothers to become friends with us Slytherins."

"Well you _do_ have a reputation for being... _unfriendly_," Harry put in cooly.

Tracey turned to Harry, her eyes piercing. She was about to open her mouth speak when someone suddenly called to them.

"What are _they_ doing here?" someone asked, causing the five seated looking at each other to turn and find that they were being watched now by almost everyone else.

"Who invited the Slytherins?" Lavender asked.

As more and more voices joined the fray, Tracey, Blaise and Daphne all stiffened, their hands all subtly moving towards their wands as they got to their feet slowly.

"Everyone-" Hermione started to say, also getting to her feet as the noise level in the room started to elevate and people statted jumping to their feet and reaching for their wands.

"I told you this wasn't a good idea," Blaise hissed in Tracey's ear, loud enough for Harry, who was also now standing, to hear. He turned and looked at the Slytherins who were beside him and watched as Tracey moved in such a way as to tuck Daphne Greengrass behind herself. Furrowing his brow at this, he turned and watched as people started to press towards them.

"We invited them," Terry Boot called in his deep voice, causing everyone to fall silent as he stepped forward with Anthony Goldstein.

"Tracey is a good friend of ours," Anthony went on when he found he had everyone's attention, people looking at him now as if he'd either lost his mind or was a complete idiot. "And we thought she'd be a good contribution to the group, her father _is_ an Auror after all. And she's the best in Defense of our class."

Hermione and Harry both now turned to Tracey Davis, staring at the short girl and trying to assimilate the new information. For a moment, Hermione and Harry exchanged a surprised and incredulous look.

For his part, Harry had a hard time believing that anyone in Slytherin House could have a father that was an Auror. Even more so, he had a hard time thinking that the very petite girl was good enough at Defense for Anthony Goldstein to claim she was the best of their class, though he supposed it would take a Ravenclaw to know as Slytherins had more classes with the Ravenclaws than with anyone else.

But as far as he could tell thus far, Tracey Davis struck him as a sarcastic girl to whom the entire world was a joke.

Harry was still unsure what they were playing at, but from what he'd seen thus far, Tracey seemed to be the mouth piece of her friends. And she struck him as the leader of the group. So if he was looking for motive, he'd say he should focus on the red-head girl.

"Maybe we should start the meeting," Harry suggested, seeing that at least for now, the lynch mob had calmed down.

Hermione nodded her head, wondering how much trouble they were in for with Slytherins in their midst.

xXx

"I can't believe we are part of a group named for Dumbledore," Blaise exhaled lowly as everyone was made to pair up to practice the Disarming spell.

Tracey shot Blaise a look to shut him up as she told him to pair up with Daphne. She didn't like it any better than Blaise did but she didn't think it was really their place to say. Though, she did think about talking to Hermione Granger about spelling out the name of their group on top of the sign in sheet; for her part she thought it was stupid to do so.

Walking over to Terry, she paired up with him and they practiced near her friends. Though, because Tracey had plenty of practice with this particular spell, she didn't take it very seriously and spent most of her time flirting with Terry while keeping an eye on her friends and discreetly assessing the skills of the people around them.

Tracey sighed as she saw Daphne shoot another spell. While the blonde's aim was accurate, the force of her spells was very weak. She could barely manage to make Blaise's wand to twitch slightly in his grip and nudge him off balance.

Tracey would've been exceedingly bored, if she didn't have so much fun constantly teasing Terry. And it wasn't terribly long before the meeting was over.

"You know Hermione, I don't think it's a very good idea to have the name of the group written at the top of the members list like that," Tracey commented off-handedly as they queued up to leave. Harry, Ron and Hermione were standing by the exit, watching people leave in groups of three or four and were somewhat taken aback that Tracey addressed Hermione so familiarly and while appearing perfectly comfortable, as if she and Hermione were already old friends. "It would be very bad if it were to fall into the wrong hands."

"And why would that happen? Planning to rat everyone out, are you?" Ron suddenly accused, however, Tracey, Blaise and Daphne didn't react unfavorably or jump to fight as Harry would have expected. Instead, Tracey merely shot a brief, withering look at the redhead before shrugging her shoulders; Blaise looking on with aloof disdain and Daphne arching a perfectly sculpted brow.

"I'm merely saying, if it were me, I wouldn't do such a thing. Think of it as Lesson one from the Slytherin handbook; anything that _can_ go wrong, _will_ go wrong, so plan accordingly."

"That wouldn't be lesson one in our handbook, Trace," Blaise muttered. "Lesson one, would be _always look out for number one_. Lesson two would be, _nothing in the world is free_."

Tracey furrowed her brow and looked over at Blaise contemplatively. "That's true, but then my suggestion would still be in keeping with lesson one. As by not advertising our groups intention on the members list, we'd be protecting ourselves from further fall-out."

For their part, Hermione, Ron and Harry looked at the three Slytherins with bewildered expressions as they watched the odd exchange.

Upon noticing the looks they were receiving, Tracey grinned. "Oh don't mind us. We often have this nerdy, pseudo-philosophical discussion about Slytherin traits and ideals. I guess we'll see you next time."

And with that, the three Slytherins departed.

"Well that was a waste of time," Blaise muttered as they made their way through the corridors carefully. "The Disarming spell, really?"

"We have to start somewhere, Blaise," Tracey replied with a sigh. "Besides, we're not there for the lessons in particularly, we're there to-"

"Revamp our image, I know," Blaise retorted lowly and irritatedly, thinking how he would have rather spent the evening. "I'm not really sure why you care so much. Who cares what the other houses even think of us? That just makes them a bunch of prejudice idiots, it really doesn't affect us."

"Would you stop your bitching already, Blaise? We've joined, end of story," Tracey snapped finally, not really wanting to hear Blaise whining all the way to the dungeons. "It's too late to change our minds. We've committed ourselves, if we were to back out now, everyone's going to think we have no follow through and that is not a good luck for us Blaise."

"She does have a point. The only reason the other houses don't gang up and bully us is because they think we are all very knowledgeable in the Dark Arts, and have the nerve to cast those kinds of spells," Daphne quietly input.

Blaise didn't reply and both girls turned to find the boy sulking. Both girls merely sighed, knowing that talking to Blaise at this point was futile and they each chose to remain silent for the remainder of their lengthy trek to the dungeons.

**TBC...**

I hope you guys didn't find the chapter eventless. And please remember to review! :)


	4. Chapter 4

**A/n:** I want to thank everyone who has faved, followed and reviewed this story. I hope that I was able to respond to everyone's review and if I haven't it's not personal, I simply must've accidentally overlooked your review!

Special thanks to dinadan256 for agreeing to be beta for this story. Hopefully I can keep the story moving and the characters developing with your much needed help! :)

**Prompt: **Prolific Romance Novelist (#18)

**Chapter 4**

"When do you think is Blaise going to stop sulking?" Daphne asked later that night, as both girls sat on Tracey's bed with the curtains drawn.

Tracey didn't look up from her task of painting her nails black, her hair tied up in a haphazard ponytail to keep it from falling in her face as she tried to keep her hand steady.

"As soon as he gets bored of hanging around Draco and the buffoons, which will probably be before lunch time tomorrow," Tracey replied, unconcerned that Pansy may overhear them because she had cast a silencing spell around her bed. "What are you reading?"

Daphne looked down in the book in her hands. "Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen."

Tracey looked up and raised a brow at her friend. A teasing smile started to spread on her lips. Since she, Daphne and Blaise made the Muggle Literature section of the library their very own secret space, they'd been in the habit of each reading a new muggle book every month or so, when it wouldn't interfere with their school work.

They found, as unlikely as it may seem in three Slytherins, that they all appreciated muggle fiction far more than wizard fiction. And the secret bound them tighter than anything else, because anything that seemed like muggle-sympathy in Slytherin House, was not to be borne.

"You are totally Jane Bennet. Beautiful, caring, sweet, responsible and determined to see the good in the world," Tracey teased lightly.

Daphne smiled painfully, thinking perhaps she had been once. But no matter how cynical the world seemed to try to twist her, the romantic inside her refused to die, even if she already felt broken.

"I don't know about that. I am quite determined that '_nothing but the deepest love could ever induce me into matrimony_', to quote Elizabeth. Which is why I'm afraid, I'm going to greatly disappoint my parents because I will probably never marry," Daphne replied with a frown.

It wasn't easy being the eldest daughter of a middle class, pureblood family intent on reaching it's former glory and wealth. Daphne was grounded, and she knew that unless she married well, the prospects of her family would be dire. But she rather doubted that she'd able to find true love with a wealthy pureblood... purebloods were already in short supply and the kind of love she dreamed of didn't simply happen every day and she couldn't stand the thought of a loveless marriage.

"That's great Daph... now me, you and Blaise can all buy a place and grow old and be crotchety old maids together, since none of us can see marriage in our futures," Tracey replied in mock excitement, trying to keep the atmosphere light and not bring up unpleasant topics that she knew Daphne found difficult acknowledging.

Daphne frowned at Tracey, before shaking her head. She wanted to tell the pretty, red-head girl that simply because her parents' marriage had failed so catastrophically, did not mean that all marriages ended that way. But she decided against it. Tracey was in denial about her commitment issues, and she knew it would be useless to bring them up.

Daphne just hoped that one day Tracey was caught off guard by a love so great, she wouldn't be able to run from it the way she ran away from every relationship that started to get serious in any romantic way.

"So I take it you've read Pride and Prejudice?" Daphne asked, to which Tracey nodded while shaking her hands to try to dry her nail polish faster, wondering why she hadn't had the forethought to leave her wand out in the open to spell them dry.

"In our second year. While all you twits were sighing away after Lockhart, I was picturing myself as Lizzie and Professor Snape as my Mr. Darcy," Tracey replied with an impish grin. And Daphne couldn't help the loud, uncontrolled giggle that burst from her lips which she was quick to hide behind her hand.

"Professor Snape? Really? I didn't know you fancied him!" Daphne stated, once she was somewhat in control of her giggle fit.

"It was a crush, and I'm mostly over it. And Millie's completely to blame!" Tracey said in defense, though still grinning. "Do you remember when she said that night, that Snape was more attractive than Lockhart? Well, I started wondering 'what does she see in him' and what do you know, I totally got it! He's tall, dark and maybe not the definition of handsome, but you got to admit he's got talent. And the man exudes power, that's just dead sexy. And his voice! He's got a voice that can make panties wetter than the Black Lake."

"Tracey! You dirty wench! We were twelve!" Daphne cried, scandalized but amused.

"I wasn't creaming my panties for him then!"

"So you do now?" Daphne asked, raising a brow, before wrinkling her nose. "Never mind, I don't need to know."

"Well too bad, because I'm going to tell you anyway! And the answer is... YES!"

Daphne burst into giggles once more, not sure whether or not she could really take Tracey seriously.

"I swear, you have a thing for men who are... less than good-looking," Daphne stated, trying to put it delicately. Tracey raised a brow questioningly. "Well you've always fancied Theodore... and now you mention having liked Snape.. and you're extremely flirty with Terry Boot!"

Tracey furrowed her brow slightly before shrugging. She'd never compared the three men and as far as she was concerned, their similarities started and ending with them all being very intelligent and tall.

"I don't fancy Terry. He's just really nice, and I kind of love that he's so tall and... I feel like by flirting with him maybe other girls will see more to him than his looks! And Teddy," Tracey sighed thinking of the reclusive, brilliant, Slytherin boy. "He's really sweet, once you get to know him."

Daphne gave Tracey a look that was equivalent to shrugging. "He won't talk to anyone but you, so I'll just take your word for it."

Tracey shrugged her shoulders, though her stomach was in knots, thinking about Theodore Nott now. Her heart ached with longing for the tall, plain and slender boy. She wasn't sure why, but since first year, her heart had always gone out to the boy, and she made it her mission to become friends with him.

It wasn't that Theodore was hateful, or arrogant or even shy. He just preferred to be alone and not talk to people. But he was perfectly polite, and a gentleman. And Tracey didn't know how or when it happened, but she loved that boy. And she had a feeling that if she let herself, she'd fall in love with the boy hopelessly. Which was probably why she'd never pursued anything more than a friendship with the boy who had more interest in books than people. She was terrified of falling in love like that.

"What do you think of Harry Potter now that you've actually been introduced and even spoken?" Daphne asked, trying to distract her friend from thoughts of Theodore. As her best friend, Daphne knew Tracey had strong feelings for Theodore and she didn't really like it. She found Theodore to be intense and somewhat creepy.

"I have yet to see anything really special about him, apart from the fact that he's a great flyer," Tracey replied in deadpan. "I can't see how he has faced the Dark Lord and survived. I guess it's too early for me to form my opinion."

xXx

"Her dad can't be an Auror," Ron refuted, as if there was no question in his mind about it as he and the others started to get ready for bed in their dorm.

"Your dad works at the Ministry, can't you write him and ask?" Neville suggested from where he knelt at his trunk looking for something or other.

"I think we'd need his first name for that, Neville. Davis isn't an uncommon surname, there may be more than one," Harry replied before looking at Ron. "Although, we could still try."

"What's the point? It's got to be a lie," Ron shot back stubbornly where he was now laying back on his bed. Harry sighed, not wanting to get into an argument, but knowing that Ron was being incredibly thick about this. Perhaps he should write the letter himself, he thought and ask Sirius to ask Tonks or Kingsley.

"I don't see what the big deal is," Seamus piped up in his Irish lilt. "Daphne Greengrass is hot! Have you seen the tits on her? Those are really nice, really full. And Davis isn't so bad either. She has a really nice can. She's probably easy too, did you see the way she was flirting all night with Boot? And I've heard she's dated like five blokes at least."

Harry frowned, but didn't say anything to this. As a teenage boy, he'd of course noticed that physically speaking, both girls were exceedingly good looking. But he'd never been the type to speak so openly and crudely about such things.

"You know, Daphne Greengrass is really good at Herbology. I've seen her in the Greenhouses a few times, also helping Professor Sprout. And she was actually nice," Neville stated, finally emerging from his trunk with what he was looking for, which seemed to be some pruning shears.

"Daphne Greengras nice?" Dean Thomas asked doubtfully. "The _Ice_ _Queen_?"

"When have you ever even _talked_ to a girl?" Seamus mocked, causing Neville to turn slightly red. Harry and Ron both turned to look at Neville with both doubt and expectation.

"Well... we didn't exactly t-talk," Neville stuttered, looking down for a moment. He didn't really know how to explain the encounters he had with Slytherin's resident Beauty Queen and the reputed frigid-witch. Usually their encounters revolved around Daphne asking for his help with something in the Greenhouses, her tone usually polite, quiet and... kind. And when she looked at him, it wasn't with scorn, disgust or pity like most girls. It was with a soft, patient look that even Hermione didn't quite manage.

"She's obviously being fake. They're all fake," Ron stated as he crossed his arms behind his head in cavalier tones. "All Slytherin girls are poisonous, gold-digging snakes."

Harry stared momentarily at Ron, wondering with a frown if that's the way he sounded when he spoke about Slytherins. He rather hoped not, because Ron really sounded like a prat. But even so, he couldn't shake his own suspicions about Slytherins in general. They weren't really good people, were they?

Nothing in his experience thus far with them gave him have any confidence about them in general. Snape, the three Malfoys, they were all prejudiced, arrogant, gits. Pansy Parkinson and Millicent Bulstrode were just petty and mean, and their outward appearance seemed to reflect the ugliness within. And then there were Crabbe and Goyle, who were almost too stupid to function, but were mean like Dudley.

Briefly, he wondered if Dudley had been a wizard, if he would have gone into Slytherin in spite of being muggle-born. He certainly seemed to fit the bill of his Slytherin classmates in general; big, stupid and mean.

Although, he supposed that Zabini, Greengrass and Davis didn't exactly fit that description. Nor did Theodore Nott, if he thought about it. They were all thin and didn't often say much aloud, if he thought over the last four years of school and they definitely weren't ugly.

However, Davis was still snarky, even if she delivered her barbs teasingly. And Zabini was a haughty brat that had that Slytherin Superiority Complex written all over his demeanor. And Daphne Greengrass, she certainly looked like a Princess, and though she didn't quite behave like Narcissa Malfoy, her behavior wasn't much different.

Climbing into his own bed and pulling the curtains around it, Harry lay back in thought about the conundrum that was Tracey Davis.

She was... tiny. She was shorter than he was, and had a slender build. All her features were proportionate, he supposed, but there was something about her tininess that made her seem almost harmless.

But in spite of her small stature, she clearly had a big personality. She was out-spoken, which he didn't expect because according to Hermione, she was always quiet in public. And he didn't know how a girl so small, who was invisible to him for the last four years, could be the leader of two cold, and conceited Slytherins while she herself seemed down-to-earth.

Unfortunately, as much as Harry tried to figure out the conundrum of the Slytherin girl with a supposed Auror father, he simply didn't have enough information. From what little he'd seen of her during the DA meeting, it didn't look to him like she was taking the exercise seriously at all.

The only classes he had with the Slytherins were Potions and Care of Magical Creatures and he was certain that neither Tracey or Daphne were in Care of Magical Creatures. He resolved to pay more attention to her during the meetings, as difficult as that might be with his crush on Cho and directing everyone else in the group.

As he started drifting off to sleep, his thoughts vaguely lingering on Slytherins and his perception that they weren't really good people, he was startled awake by a small voice in his head, reminding him that he'd almost been sorted into Slytherin, _so what does that mean about you?_

Harry blinked his bleary eyes wide open, heart beginning to pound. _Was_ he a bad person? Harry wondered to himself, struggling once more with his sense of identity. His stomach further knotted when he thought of the way he'd been treating his friends, right up to the meeting in the Hog's Head and how he was so angry, all the time. He was further discomfited if he thought of the similarities between himself and Voldemort.

The thought that he'd pulled the sword of Gryffindor out of the sorting hat, not longer felt like any solace to him. Even if, according to Dumbledore, only a true Gryffindor could have pulled the sword from the hat.

And he wondered again. Did being Slytherin, really mean you were a bad person? Was that what Dumbledore meant to imply? And was he really a good person, simply because he'd chosen Gryffindor?

xXx

On Saturday, Harry woke up early to head to the Owlery to send a letter to Sirius, asking him if he'd ask Kingsley and Tonks about Aurors with the last name Davis. He was startled when he came to the entrance to the tower and ran into Tracey Davis and Daphne Greengrass.

"Hello Harry," Tracey greeted quietly, after casting a look about, as if making sure that no one was around.

"Umm... Hi," Harry replied awkwardly as he tensed, trying not to be rude, but finding it awkward to speak to a girl he'd barely ever spoken to before and nodding his head to Daphne Greengrass who merely eyed him cooly and impassively. He too shot a furtive look around, as if expecting a full on Slytherin ambush any moment.

"I see you've got post," Tracey observed conversationally, causing Harry to jerk slightly, as if he'd wanted to hide his letter but thought better of it. Tracey tried not to furrow her brow at the strange action. What does he expect me to just rip it right out of his hand? Tracey wondered absurdly. "So are you going up?" Tracey asked with a raised brow, as the three of them were loitering rather stupidly at the base of the stairs.

"Ladies first," Harry said, motioning for them to head up ahead of him.

Tracey and Daphne exchanged a look, both of them wondering if Harry was being gentlemen, or was too paranoid to turn his back to two Slytherin girls. Tracey couldn't help smirking as Daphne moved ahead of her to take the stairs.

"What a gentleman," Tracey couldn't help teasing Harry, fascinated with the way his cheeks flushed pink as she stepped past him to mount the stairs after Daphne.

_Is she flirting with me?_ Harry wondered, somewhat bewildered as he paused at the bottom of the stairs, looking after the red-head with his brows furrowed. But he put it out of his mind as impossible and proceeded to take the stairs, screwing up his Gryffindor courage to do so. Besides, he thought to himself, it was a good opportunity to study the Slytherin girls.

But those thoughts flew out of his head when he caught up with them on the spiraling staircase and found himself staring at Tracey's back as she climbed the stairs. For a moment, he was mesmerized watching the sway of her hips, and thinking that he agreed with Seamus on Tracey's _assets_ being very nice.

"Should I be flattered or offended?" a girly, voice pulled him from his thoughts. Looking up, he saw Tracey Davis smirking at him over her shoulder and he flushed hotly as he realized he'd been caught staring. "I'll forgive you this time, but next time I'll have to punish you," she said with a wink and smirk before turning around and chucking quietly to herself.

"What was that about?" Daphne questioned as they reached the landing and proceeded into the owlery and Tracey was once more able to walk beside her. Tracey merely shook her head and made a motion that she'd tell her later as Daphne called to her owl.

"So... who are you writing to?" Harry scrounged up the courage to ask, causing both girls to shoot him almost identical looks as they both raised their left brows in surprise.

However, Harry wasn't looking at them and instead petting Hedwig who'd flown down to perch on his arm, his embarrassment still too fresh in his mind. But he was determined to get something out of this coincidental run-in.

"Well Daphne's letting me use her owl, so I can send a letter to my father," Tracey replied, walking over to Harry as Daphne's owl didn't particularly like her and wouldn't approach the blonde girl if Tracey was near to her. She felt more at ease to talk to the boy then when they were being watched by the entire DA. "And yourself?"

Harry looked up, startled by Tracey's proximity. He hadn't expected the girl to walk over to him, but he found that she was looking at Hedwig instead of him.

"Is your dad really an Auror?" Harry asked, not answering her question cause he wasn't sure how to respond.

"Yes, he is. Why do you ask?" Tracey replied, her brows knitting together momentarily in slight confusion though she noted that he'd refrained from answering her last question.

"Umm... well... because I want to be an Auror and it's... interesting," he floundered, sure that admitting his real motive for asking would be a terrible move on his part. Although, his answer was true enough. Belatedly, he regretted admitting that as he waited to hear her poke fun of him.

"You want to be an Auror? Really?" Tracey asked, in a tone that sounded mildly incredulous as she turned to look at him. His delivery made her somewhat doubtful of the veracity of his statement, and she found it slightly strange.

"Yeaaaaah," Harry said, frowning now, wondering why it was so strange to her or what she was driving at.

"Oh... that's surprising," Tracey replied, turning back to looking at the white snow-owl perched on his arm, her tone detached.

"Why?" Harry asked in confusion.

"Well, if I were you, I would be tired of fighting. I'd probably just want to live my life in peace," Tracey said with a shrug of her shoulders, her tone mild and contemplative. Harry furrowed his brow, never having really thought of it that way.

"You've never considered being an Auror? Even with your dad being one and you being so great at Defense?" Harry asked slightly defensively and his tone turning somewhat ironic towards the end of his statement. Though not so much as to earn himself a glance from the girl who was so fascinated by his owl.

"Me?" Tracey scoffed, smiling mysteriously and reaching out to pet Hedwig tentatively and gently. "Oh, I'm going to be a prolific romance novelist."

Harry stared at Tracey blankly, though he was somewhat surprised at her gall to pet Hedwig, and surprised that Hedwig was actually leaning into her touch.

As the silence remained, Tracey turned to look at Harry and giggled at his expression as she pulled back her hand. "That was a joke. I'm not really sure what I'm going to do with the rest of my life. Just because I'm exceptional at Defense, doesn't mean I want to follow in my father's footsteps."

"You don't seem to like Defense very much," Harry commented with a frown, even more puzzled now.

Tracey shrugged her shoulders lightly. "I like Defense just fine."

Her statement lingered in the air like a noose. Her words seem to just suddenly stop as the statement dropped, and he couldn't help feeling that something was left unsaid. Something that would be revealing more than she was comfortable with and made his curiosity suddenly ignite powerfully. But before he could say anything, a pale hand tapped Tracey's shoulder.

Tracey briefly turned and nodded at Daphne who was apparently done mailing off her letter. Tracey nodded her head before turning back to Harry and locking her eyes with his and offering him a small and friendly smile.

"Well, it was nice talking to you. You have a very beautiful owl," she said in parting, before turning on her heel and leaving with her blonde friend. Harry thought he caught the faint scent of something sweet but difficult for him to place, where her hair had breezed through the air.

Harry stared, still not any closer to figuring out what the Slytherins may be up to.

Turning to Hedwig when he was sure the girls were out of earshot he asked, "Think she's a good one?"

In response, Hedwig hooted.

**TBC...**

As always, please remember to review!


	5. Chapter 5

**A/n: **Thanks to everyone who has faved and followed. To everyone who takes the time to review, you guys are awesome and I hope I got back to all of you, and if I didn't I'm sorry.

Again special thanks to _dinadan256_ for being beta, I really appreciate it a lot.

**Prompt: **Hidden Desire (519)

**Chapter 5**

"So... he was checking out your backside?" Daphne asked, her tone tentative, as if she couldn't quite believe what she'd heard as she and Tracey picked their way through the halls of the castle, once they were a good deal away from the owlery.

Tracey nodded her head with a slight grin of amusement. "There's a great one to tell the children, whichever one of us happens to have them."

Her nose briefly wrinkled at the thought of kids. Personally, she'd never been exposed to small children, but Tracey had no desire to devoting her life to taking care of anyone so small and fragile. Or really, of looking after anything at all. She didn't even want an owl when she turned eleven, or any other kind of pet. She was starting to think, that perhaps she was simply not the nurturing type; she did have a good deal of trouble with Herbology.

"You know... I've never really seen him interested in a girl," Daphne mused aloud as they started to make their way down the stairs.

Tracey furrowed her brow and turned to look at Daphne. "You mean you didn't notice that he totally fancies Cho Chang?"

Daphne raised a brow and looked at Tracey questioningly.

"What?" Tracey asked, slightingly affronted at the calculated look Daphne was giving her. "He was being fairly obvious... avoiding her but shooting her looks, before finally coming near her as time began to ran out. The only other people he didn't get to, was us and that's simply because of our House."

"Well... if you want to be friends, you're going to have to be nicer to him. I don't think he knows sarcasm doesn't always equal venom," Daphne pointed out.

"It's not like I was being mean to him, or rude. And I'm not going to tell him my whole life story when I've barely been properly introduced to him... who even does that?" Tracey said, crossing her arms over her chest somewhat defensively, though keeping her voice down in case they happen to run in to anyone.

Daphne didn't say anything, internally wincing what Tracey was probably taking as criticism about her person. Her red-head friend didn't deal too well with criticism. Perhaps because she felt, she'd never really had praise or positive encouragement from her parents. Mrs. Davis only seemed to criticize, from what Daphne could gather, and Mr. Davis was... Daphne wasn't sure what... but she knew he made Tracey feel like nothing she ever did would be good enough.

"I just meant... you're probably twisting his mind in a million little knots by your behavior because he doesn't know you."

Tracey didn't respond as they made it to the ground floor. However, before she could allow herself to fume, she found herself grinning as she saw who was emerging from the Great Hall.

Leaving Daphne behind, she skipped cheerily over to Professor Snape and stopped before him, dropping her right arm to her side and tucked her left hand into the crook of her elbow from behind her back.

"Good morning Professor Snape," Tracey greeted politely, though she smiled coquettishly up at her Head of House who looked down at her with his cool and impassive face, his black eyes almost narrowed in suspicion. She thought she saw a marginal twitch of his eyebrow that made her smile slightly bigger.

"Miss Davis," he greeted cooly, his gaze slowly lifting and moving towards Daphne who came to a stop behind Tracey. "Miss Greengrass. What are you both up to so early?"

"Good morning, sir. We were just headed to the Greenhouses, I promised Professor Sprout to come in early today to help her with a new shipment of Fanged Geraniums," Daphne replied politely, her gaze set on Snape's shoulder. Tracey almost winced at the mention of what her friend was going to be doing and wondering how long she was going to have to suffer through it alone.

Snape rose a black brow and turned to look at Tracey.

"Are you helping, Miss Davis?"

Tracey knew what he meant by the question asked in dark amusement. Tracey was as bad at Potion's as she was at Herbology, and usually, the two classes went hand in hand. The only reason Tracey was passing either class with a grade higher than average, was because Daphne was brilliant at them and gave Tracey all the help she could want. Snape of course, suspected as much.

"Nope," Tracey replied, popping the P. "I'm simply escorting our lovely, Slytherin Rose. It would after all be awfully negligent of me to leave her unescorted, and at the mercy of those weeds envious of her beauty."

Tracey almost grinned again as Snape's left eye gave a twitch at her prose. She was sure she could see the vein at his temple begin to throb.

"Very well, carry on," he said, pushing past them a slight tone of irritation slipping into his voice. Tracey turned around, waving at the back of her head and calling out, 'Have a nice day, sir.'

"I can't decide if you've taken complete leave of your senses or if you really meant the bit about becoming a romance novelist. Since when do you wax poetic?" Daphne asked, slightly annoyed with her strange, red-head friend for. "Although, I'm starting to wonder how I never saw you had a crush on Professor Snape. You've been flirting with him for years."

"I flirt with almost everyone," Tracey said with a shrug as they set off for the grounds. "Besides, it gets under his skin. It comes in handy. He never gives me detention anymore, haven't you noticed? I think he's afraid I'll try to seduce him and put him in an extremely awkward predicament."

"I wouldn't put it past you," Daphne said after a moment of though, earning herself a shove.

As the Greenhouses came into view, Tracey visibly wilted. She wasn't a morning person, exactly, though she wasn't as awful about it as Blaise.

Daphne on the other hand woke with the break of day to shower, brush her hair, dry it, fix it so that it was smooth without a hair out of place and then go about her rigorous beauty routine to make sure that her face looked impeccable. It took Daphne at least two hours to be ready to face the day, something Tracey didn't have time for.

While not necessarily a tomboy, Tracey didn't have the patience to do more than brush her hair, wash her face and teeth and throw on something comfortable. She was a low maintenance girl.

However, it wasn't the fact that she had to get up so early that bothered her. It was the fact that she would be spending several hours of her Saturday morning, cooped up in one of the Greenhouses because Slytherins went _everywhere_ in groups. And Daphne, she was magically weak, and the source of a lot of hate because she was so beautiful. Tracey couldn't leave Daphne alone, especially not after what happened to her the summer before fourth year.

_I wouldn't have to be here alone if Blaise would stop sulking already, _Tracey thought as they entered Professor Sprout's domain.

Usually when Daphne was helping Professor Sprout, both Tracey and Blaise escorted the blonde, and then took off to do something for the time Daphne was going to be with Sprout and came back for her at a later time. But since the night of the first DA meeting, Blaise was more or less giving the girls the silent treatment. Which didn't necessarily involve him not speaking to them, or looking at them or ignoring their existence exactly. But it meant that he was devoting his time to different girls, girls he'd flirt and snog, and maybe even date, before becoming a complete git to them.

Tracey wasn't exactly sorry for these girls. In her opinion, they should know better. Blaise was an archetype of the "Bad Boy" model and if they were smart, they'd know he wasn't the kind that stuck around and would leave him to his own devices.

If these girls thought that people could be changed, Blaise was teaching them a valuable lesson. And none of them had, yet, the intelligence, cunning or strength to blow past Blaise's crap and get to the gooey center of the boy.

But they were taking up his time, and at that particularly moment, she was annoyed with them. She supposed the sensible thing to have done, was apologize to the boy, but Slytherins in general, never apologized. And for her part, Tracey found it a difficult, if not impossible, thing to do. It wounded her pride, made her appear weak, and made her feel vulnerable. Besides, she didn't feel like she had anything to apologize for.

She hadn't said anything to Blaise that wasn't true. If her tone had been too harsh, and hurt his feelings, then she thought he needed to grow a thicker skin, and that he hadn't learned anything playing the 'Cloak' game.

_It's not the same and you know it. It's the people who are closest to you, who have the greatest power to hurt you. And words can be a bigger blow, when they come from friends, _a voice that Tracey to attributed to her conscience told her. However, she ignored it and pushed all thoughts for her head as she settled onto one of the benches and noticed that Neville Longbottom was present.

For the remainder of her time, though bored out of her mind, Tracey sat and watched whatever drew her attention. But the thing she found most fascinating was watching Daphne and Neville interact.

They performed and awkward sort of dance around one another. But more than a few times, she saw Daphne approach Neville for something, which was a sight Tracey was sure she'd never seen before. At least, not with such softness in her friend. Usually when Daphne spoke to a boy, one that was not Blaise, she was so cool and stiff, her words so concise... her guard fully up, that no boy could even _see_ Daphne.

But... she was kind to Neville. Friendly, even. And Tracey felt the wheels of her mind beginning to turn as possibilities wove in front of her as she continued to study the two Herbology geeks.

_Daph's not threatened by Longbottom, _she thought before frowning slightly at the boy. _Who would be? He's not much of a lion. He's a nervous wreck... he's timid... shy... he has no confidence! _

_You're not trying to marry her off, _she argued with herself_. Just trying to get her to trust a little again... see that not all guys are going to break her. Longbottom is perfect. _

Tracey nodded her head as she looked at the boy critically. He wasn't ugly, at least. He was slightly taller than Daphne with a somewhat slender build. _He has gentle, brown eyes, _she thought, as if that alone was the deciding factor. But then, Tracey knew that, you could see so much of a person through their eyes.

_Longbottom would be good for her,_ Tracey finally decided, before her brow crinkled. _Now all I have to do is get _them_ to see it_.

xXx

Unfortunately, Tracey found, as the school week started, that there wasn't anything she could think of to get Daphne and Logbottom together. It seemed to Tracey, now more than ever, that the Professors conspired, so that the Gryffindors and Slytherins were apart from each other, as much as they were capable. The only classes Tracey, Daphne and Blaise seemed to have with the Gryffindors were Potions, Arithmancy and Runes and Neville wasn't in the latter two. Potions, of course was segregated and it would be social suicide to willingly cross the divide.

"Where is Blaise?" Tracey asked on the following Tuesday evening when she and Daphne made it to the Room of Requirement for the second DA meeting.

Daphne shrugged her shoulders, to which Tracey felt her ire with the dark-skinned boy spike. They were still not on speaking terms, and Tracey felt like it was getting ridiculous. Gritting her teeth, she resolved to have a word with the boy later.

It wasn't long after, having arrived very late to the meeting themselves because they'd been waiting around the Slytherin common room for the boy, that the meeting got underway. Once more, they were still practicing the Disarming Spell.

"Come on," Tracey said, gabbing onto Daphne's hand and pulling the unsuspecting blonde towards Neville Longbottom who was still partnerless. "Hi," Tracey greeted a bit too enthusiastic as the brown-haired boy immediately became nervous. "I'm Tracey Daivs. Neville, is it?" Tracey said, toning down her voice but making sure it remained light and friendly as she offered the boy a small smile. He nodded his head, his eyes wide and filled with something akin to fear. "I was wondering if you would partner with Daphne? You see, Blaise partnered with her last time, and he didn't come today."

Neville gaped at the two Slytherin girls, but before he could stutter any kind of reply, Tracey smiled him a grateful smile, as if he'd acquiesced. "Thanks Neville. Now please do be careful with her, I want her back in the same impeccable condition as I left her, kay?"

And with that, Tracey whirled towards Daphne who was staring at her with a slightly disbelieving and reproachful look. Tracey merely smiled, trying to keep from being smug or triumphant as she knew that Daphne would not be able to bring herself to vocally object due to her considerable fear of large groups.

"I'll be nearby, just looking who I can tempt into working with me," Tracey told Daphne in quiet tones before bouncing away.

As much as she would have liked to merely pull Terry or Anthony, she knew that it was really counterproductive. After all, Terry and Anthony already knew her. Though, Tracey wasn't entirely sure how she ended up working with Dean Thomas. But it was better than Seamus Finnigan, who was trying too hard to flirt with her and made her feel slightly uncomfortable, though she didn't allow it to show.

As she didn't have the rapport with Dean Thomas that she did with Terry, Tracey found herself having to concentrate more than she'd had during the last meeting and found herself paying less attention to Daphne and Neville than she would have liked.

She was somewhat caught unawares when Dean's spell managed to not only wrenched her wand from her hand, but actually knocked her off her feet.

"Are you all right?" Dean asked, running over to her after he'd picked up her wand where it had landed near his feet.

Tracey grimaced slightly, her backside smarting slightly from the way she'd fallen on it. However, she smiled at the boy who seemed genuinely concerned for her. Tracey couldn't help smiling up at the boy and extending her hand.

"Yes, I'm fine. Wasn't really expecting that, I guess," she said as the boy took her hand without hesitation and hoisted her to her feet. "No offense."

Dean shrugged his shoulders, not really troubled as he handed back her wand. "You haven't made it easy," Dean replied with a slight smirk. To which Tracey responded in kind as she'd been putting up shields or merely side-stepping his spells. "You're really good at this. But I get the feeling you're holding back."

Tracey shrugged easily and somewhat bashfully, hoping she hadn't offended the boy. But she knew that her magic was far from weak, and she'd never really cared for physically hurting anyone, especially when they'd done nothing to warrant it. Even if they were practicing, she didn't feel comfortable with the thought of harming someone.

"You're not an enemy, and I don't really want to hurt you," Tracey replied simply to which the boy raised a brow. Thus far, every time Tracey had taken aim and shot her spell, the boy merely stumbled back a few steps and lost his grip on his wand.

"Well don't go easy on me!" he said, but the grin took any possible offense from the demand could have possibly evoked.

"All right, Mr. Thomas, you're on!" Tracey replied in turn with a slight giggle as they both started practicing once more. This time, Tracey put more power behind her spell, sending the boy flying about five feet through the air and falling on his back when she managed to land a spell, getting through his guard.

Tracey's eyes widened as she ran over to the boy, not bothering to pick up his wand.

"Are you okay?" Tracey asked, because though the boy had managed to fall on the cushions spread about to prevent serious injury, she was sure that it still must've hurt quite a bit. A small frown marred her face as she knelt next to the boy and looked him over.

In response, Dean moaned as he coughed and sat up, wincing slightly. "Yeah..."

"I'm sorry," Tracey quickly apologized, her face contorting into a slightly contrite expression as she ran her hand over his back, knowing that she couldn't really do anything to soothe the ache, but still needing to at least make some kind of symbolic attempt to soothe her guilt.

Dean momentarily stiffened at the unexpected touch. He laughed nervously, but didn't move away from her comforting touch as he looked at the red-head with a smile. "It's cool. Don't apologize. After all, I asked you not to go easy on me," he said, watching as Tracey's face changed slightly, looking slightly guilty and embarrassed. "You were still going easy on me, weren't you?" Dean asked with a slight groan to which Tracey minutely nodded.

"Sorry?" Tracey offered to which Dean waved off, laughing.

Before they could continue talking, Tracey saw someone walking by them and looked up. Potter seemed to be walking past them and she wondered if he'd been watching them as he moved onto the pair nearest them. Which of course was Daphne and Neville.

Tracey could see the moment Daphne realized Potter was heading for them and the surprisingly relaxed stance she'd been in before, immediately became stiff. When Potter headed directly for Daphne and started to address the girl who then shot a somewhat pleading look to Tracey, Tracey was already on her way over without a word to Dean.

"What are you doing?" Tracey asked a little sharper than she meant, addressing Potter as she placed herself next to her taller friend.

"Trying to help your friend," Harry stated slightly defensively, as if she was wildly out of line. Tracey felt a faint heat flower on her cheek as she realized that she was totally making a complete blunder by letting her hackles rise like this.

For a moment, she chewed on her lip, wondering what to do. Her loyalty to Daphne kept her tongue tied, because she couldn't reveal the fact that Daphne was magically substandard and incapable of producing a defensive or offensive spell with any degree of effectiveness unless she was extremely angry, which was an emotion Daphne rarely allowed herself to indulge in.

Her need to protect the blonde girl also warred with her desire to not antagonize the Gryffindor boy. And while her loyalty and protectiveness would win, she also knew that Daphne needed to grow, though she doubted the blonde would be able to... at least where her magic was concerned. Guilt flared at her for her unkind thought about her friend, but she stifled it.

Harry, seemingly in his element, ignored the red-head girl who seemed for the first time very uncertain, and turned his attention to Daphne Greengrass who was standing frozen and looking down at her nose at him. It took all his will power not to let his temper rise at the two girls, one for interfering so rudely and the other for being so proud.

"I want you to perform the spell again, center your spell on Neville's middle," Harry instructed the blonde girl, who reluctantly did what she was told without looking over at him or saying a word. "Okay, your aim and wand movements are all good. But you need to speak a bit louder and be more... firm. Try again."

Tracey merely stood behind Daphne, staring at the Gryffindor and unable to intercede. Unconsciously, she noticed that Harry's voice had become more calm and soothing as he instructed, though with the unmistakable tones of authority that somewhat reminded her of Professor Lupin.

For a moment, she tilted her head and studied the unsuspecting boy, unable to help the feeling of actually being impressed.

However, as she expected as time continued to go on, Daphne's spell didn't improve very much. Even while practicing on Neville, she only managed to extricate the wand and have it clatter halfway between herself and Neville, and this was without Neville trying to block. However, Harry continued to try and never lost his temper which Tracey found to be very nice of him.

"That's good," Harry said, though it was clear by the somewhat tightness in his smile, that he was only being kind. "Just keep practicing. Remember, it's important when casting to keep your voice steadfast."

With that, the boy walked away. For a moment, Tracey debated what to do to fix her blunder, oblivious to the look Daphne was giving her.

Finally, knowing it was better to do so now than letting it fester, she moved after the boy to try to explain her actions. Though, she didn't know quite what to say as apologizing was completely out of the question.

"I didn't mean to... jump on you like that," Tracey said after tapping him on the shoulder and ensuring she had his attention when he turned around to regard her with a hard and skeptical look. "It's just... Daphne's my best friend and I've always looked after her," Tracey explained, looking down and rubbing her neck. She felt thoroughly embarrassed, and slight uncomfortable with revealing in anyway the way she might regard Daphne.

"Well this is a _defense_ group. And if you're always stepping in for her, how is she going to protect herself when you're not around?" Harry replied back, his tone cold.

Tracey conceded that the boy had a point, but it still stung. She was more than aware that she couldn't always be around to defend Daphne, and felt her guilt gnaw at her. As much as she knew that what happened to Daphne wasn't her fault, she still felt as though she'd failed her friend. But the fact of the matter was, that she didn't think that Daphne could stand up for herself, at least not with her magic.

Harry, noticing how quiet the girl had gone and noticing that her gaze was locked on the ground with a slightly pained look, felt remorse. Though he was unsure why he should feel bad about what he said. He was further surprised that the girl seemed to have taken it so hard.

He narrowed his gaze on the girl, wondering if she was merely putting on a show to make him feel bad and take back his words. Well, he thought resolutely, he wouldn't.

But he felt like the air was squeezed out of his lungs when Tracey looked up, her light green eyes looking slightly dull. She offered him a small smile, but it looked forced.

"You're right," Tracey conceded with a shrug. "But old habits and all that. It's really reflexive at this point. Aren't you protective of your friends?"

Harry was somewhat thrown by the question. "Yeah... but I don't fight their battles for them. They can take care of themselves."

Tracey nodded her head. Though she wanted to reply that Daphne couldn't, she didn't want to sound so condescending and she couldn't expose her friend's vulnerability like that.

"I suppose it's just something I'm going to have to learn," Tracey said with a shrug before looking up at the boy, although she didn't really think she'd be able to learn anymore than she thought Daphne could adequately protect herself. "But I didn't mean to offend you."

Harry nodded somewhat jerkily. He wanted to doubt that, but he could see that Tracey was genuinely overprotective of her friend. But did she honestly think he was going to hurt her friend?

Deciding that they were really going nowhere with the subject, and acknowledging that Tracey was trying to apologize, Harry decided not to press the issue any further.

"Umm... so where's Zabini? I noticed he wasn't here," Harry stated, trying for conversational but thinking he hadn't completely succeeded.

However, if Tracey found anything strange about his tone, she didn't take it to heart. "He's being a prat," Tracey replied with a roll of her eyes. "I offended him so he's been giving us the cold shoulder. I guess he decided not to come because of it."

"Why did he join the DA?" Harry asked, as it was obvious to him that Blaise Zabini had no interest in it at all.

"Because Daphne and I were," Tracey replied succinctly, wondering where Harry was going with this as her brow furrowed lightly.

"So he just goes along with whatever you do?" Harry asked skeptically.

Tracey didn't reply immediately. She wasn't sure how much would be saying too much and betraying her friend's confidences. "Blaise doesn't get along with very many people and he prefers our company. So as Daphne and I were joining, he felt he didn't have a better way to spend his evenings, I guess."

"Oh." Harry merely replied, because really he didn't know what else to say. He supposed in a way, he could kind of understand that. After all, when he and Ron weren't getting along, he tended to spend a lot of time in the library with Hermione as he had no one else he'd rather spend his time around. But a part of him didn't understand why _anyone_ would want to spend time with the boy.

Luckily, he had better sense than to _ask_ that question aloud.

Or not. As his lips spoke the question that bewildered him so much before they had the consent of his mind.

Granted, Tracey herself was a mystery he still could not understand, but he knew the girl had to be intelligent. And she certainly had character. Which was why he didn't know how she could stand the arrogant boy who probably looked down his nose at her too, as he seemed to do with everyone.

Instead of being offended as he expected, Tracey's eyes lightened. A giggle escaped her lips which she was quick to stifle.

"Blaise can be... a real git, most of the time," Tracey admitted, not saying anything that would surprise anyone, but with a fond smile that made Harry wonder about the girl who could think fondly of a boy who she admitted was a git. "But... believe it or not, he has his good side too, like anyone if you're willing to look hard enough."

Harry looked skeptically at the girl, but couldn't help ingesting her words. Though for his part, he found it difficult to believe that _everyone_ had good parts (because of how Malfoy and Snape were), but he wondered if perhaps she had a point.

"I guess you'd have to be looking with a telescope, in Zabini's case," Harry murmured. However, Tracey still didn't take offense on part of her friend, merely smiled good-naturedly and took it as a joke.

"And be willing to give that person a chance," Tracey said with a light shrug before realizing that she'd been monopolizing so much of their instructor's time. Looking away and at the surrounding people, noticing that a few were watching their interaction, Tracey turned back to Harry. "I think I've taken up a lot of your time."

Harry nodded his head, noticing then too that he'd been talking to the Slytherin girl, almost amicably. "Yeah..." Harry trailed off as he took a few steps backs. "I should get back to making rounds. I guess I'll see you."

"Yeah," Tracey smiled, turning around and walking away with a small wave.

xXx

"What was that? Why did you **make me work** with Neville?" Daphne questioned once they were well on their way back to Slytherin, her tone tinged with irritation.

"Because, we're supposed to be trying to make friends with people outside our House. Since you already talk to Neville, I thought he was the best candidate. Besides, you need more confidence in your spell work and Neville isn't intimidating so you wouldn't lose confidence working with him," Tracey replied, not willing to reveal that she also wanted Daphne and Neville to get closer for romantic reasons. It would only serve to fluster Daphne and put her on guard.

Daphne frowned, seeing that Tracey had a point. And her friend had worked with Dean Thomas instead of with Anthony and Terry.

"Well, a warning would have been nice," Daphne chastised with a frown. "What did you and Harry talked about?"

Tracey replied, keeping her voice low so that anyone they passed in the hallways didn't overhear them. Though she left out what she'd said concerning Daphne, and only told her that she was trying to explain her behavior and how they'd gotten into a tangent about Blaise. By the time they arrived in the dungeons, she'd finished and both girls became silent as they entered their House territory.

But it did serve as a reminder when they entered their common room. Tracey quickly scanned the room for Blaise. However, he wasn't inside.

As Daphne headed straight for the dorms, Tracey told her she'd follow shortly before making her way over to Theodore. The tall, very slender and pale boy with mousy brown hair was seated by himself in a large, armchair reading a rather large tome.

"Theo," Tracey addressed softly so as not to startle the boy, waiting for him to look up from his book. Beneath the greenish hue of the lamps overhead, the dark half-circles beneath his eyes and the pallor of his skin made the boy look extremely sick as he locked his grey gaze on her. Tracey felt her heart breaking for the boy with very pale, pink lips that stretched into a slight smile for her as her instincts made her want to wrap her arms around the boy and force feed him to put some meat on his skinny, stooped frame.

"Hello Tracey," he greeted politely, his tenor soft and quiet that it was lost in the large room filled with more than a handful of Slytherins. Pansy's giggling shrieks at whatever Draco was prattling on about in particular piercing the dark ambiance of the room.

"I don't mean to interrupt, but have you by any chance seen Blaise?" Tracey asked, feeling her heart thudding very hard in her chest as Theo stared at her almost unblinking. With an apologetic expression, Theo shook his head, his straight, somewhat short hair falling into his gaze by the movement.

Tracey bit back the urge to reach over to the light-brown locks and gently tucking them out of his gaze. While Tracey found it easy to give small touches to almost everyone of her acquaintance, it wasn't as easy with Theo. Her longing for him made it difficult for her not to bask in small touches, and made her reluctant to stop.

"Oh... well thanks. I'll let you get back to your reading now," Tracey smiled, turning to leave. Her heart leapt into her throat when she felt the ghost of a touch on her fingers. Pausing, she turned and looked questioningly at Theodore, who had brushed her fingers and now pulled his hand away from her.

His fingers were like icicles. But she could still feel their gentle touch, blazing the inside of her fingers where his had lightly taken hers, trailed down their length briefly, before he retracted his hand.

"Good night Tracey," Theo stated, to which Tracey felt herself flush though she was uncertain why something so small could make her body betray her. She was glad that the Slytherin common room was so poorly lit, that a blush was impossible to make out in the green aura about the room.

"Good night, Teddy," Tracey smiled before turning to go, wondering if she was any good at hiding her longing from the genius. Internally, she hoped that Theo was clueless about the way he made her feel.

**TBC...**

As always, please review! :)


	6. Chapter 6

**A/n: **As always, thank you to everyone who took the time to review. And I'm glad so many people enjoy the story enough to fave and follow.

A really special thanks to _dinadan256_ for being Beta and whipping these chapters into better shape. These chapters are no longer written way ahead, so it's taking more work to get them up.

**Prompt:** Fuming (#116)

**Chapter 6**

The following morning during breakfast, Tracey and Daphne made their way directly towards Blaise, where he was seated near Pansy and Draco. Without saying a word, the girls dropped opposite of him, causing him to raise his brow at them questioningly.

"Special order from the kitchens," Tracey merely stated in deadpan, her gaze locked on Blaise's light brown eyes as she pushed a container of chocolate pudding in his direction. It was Blaise's favorite, though he'd never admit to having a slight sweet tooth.

Once more, Blaise's finely sculpted brow remained arched. However, it was now accompanied by a smirk as he took the container, silently accepting the gesture for what it was. A non-verbal apology.

All the way across the hall at the Gryffindor table, Harry was doing his best to ignore Hermione and Ron's bickering, when Hedwig arrived with post. Trying to hide his enthusiasm, he quickly gave his half-eaten toast to the snowy-owl while Ron and Hermione paused in their argument.

"Who's it from?" Hermione asked in curious tones, leaning over the table while Ron craned his neck to see.

"Snuffles," Harry replied as he opened the letter, glad that Ron turned back to his breakfast and wasn't reading over his shoulder. Though he could still feel his best friend watching him curiously as he quickly read the letter.

"What's he say?" Ron asked around a mouthful of breakfast.

"He says that there is a Davis in the Auror Department. Cillian Davis. Tonks and Kingsley both say he's a good auror, though he's gone under review a couple times and suspended," Harry said as he read the letter slowly, his brow furrowing slightly. His voice lowered to conspiratorial tones, causing his two friends to lean closer to listen. "Snuffles remembers him from school. He was a Ravenclaw a few years ahead of them, and muggle-born. He married a witch named Rosabelle Lestrange... though Tonks told him he's recently divorced. He says he's sure they had a child together."

Harry looked up slowly, unsure what to make of his reading, but feeling like a heavy chunk of lead was dropped in his stomach at the name Lestrange. Hermione for her part, seemed somewhat thoughtful.

_Lestrange?!_ Harry internally freaked as he recalled the memories of the pensieve last year. From what he recalled, there were three Death Eaters that corresponded to the name. A woman with dark hair and hooded eyes, a thickset man with a blank stare and a thinner man, the only one of the three to be openly nervous.

Harry wondered briefly how it was that Rosabelle was related to the Lestrange brothers that were sent to Azkaban, as he knew the family to be an old, pureblood family, not unlike the Malfoys and that the surname couldn't be a coincidence.

_Does that mean Tracey Davis is related to them?_ He wondered. And if so, _how?!_ And more importantly, _did it really matter?_

_'Sirius is related to a whole bunch of Slytherins'_, Harry considered as he chewed on the inside of his cheek, his brow furrowed in thought.

"You didn't tell me you were writing to Si- OW!" Ron stopped mid-sentence to rub his leg and scowl at Hermione. "Snuffles?!"

Harry looked up at the reproachful blue gaze of his best friend and shrugged. "I thought I'd just ask."

For her part, Hermione didn't really think the new information made a huge difference. But she supposed it didn't hurt to learn a little more background on the Slytherin members of their group.

"Did you tell him why you were asking?" Hermione asked curiously, as she couldn't imagine what Sirius would make about such a strange request.

Harry shook his head. Though, Sirius asked in the letter why Harry wanted to know. He didn't know if he should bother asking Sirius' advice on the matter. On the one hand he felt that Sirius might know better what it was like to deal with Slytherins, being related to so many as he was. On the other, he did run away from home, so maybe Sirius wasn't the best source of wisdom here. Belatedly, he wondered if perhaps he could ask him if Remus remembered Tracey and her friends.

He supposed that if anything, it might be interesting to hear an adults opinion. And more so the perspective of a Professor, though he doubted that Remus would recall Tracey, as Hermione did say that the girl was virtually invisible in public.

"I can't believe her dad's actually an Auror. I mean... how do we even know that's Cillian Davis is even her dad?" Ron stated sceptically.

Hermione rolled her eyes from where she sat across from him. "Does it really make a difference, Ronald?" Hermione asked in exasperation. "Just because people are related, doesn't mean they will be in the same house, or have the same aspirations. Look at Parvati and Padma, they're twins and in separate houses. Just because her father is an Auror, it doesn't mean Tracey wants to be one. And just because she's in Slytherin, it doesn't mean she wants to wear a Dark Mark."

Ron stared with wide eyes at Hermione before looking at Harry. "They've gotten to her!"

Hermione huffed, gathering the book that was laid open next to her breakfast. "I'm going to the library," the bushy-haired girl said, clearly too annoyed to deal with the childish red-head.

Harry weakly nodded his head at Hermione in parting as the girl marched away.

"So... when do you think is going to be the next meeting?" Ron asked, after shrugging off the incident, apparently tired of thinking and talking about the Slytherins. It remained unsaid that he was sure they were up to something, though he couldn't seem to convince anyone else of that. Even Dean and Seamus seemed taken by Tracey Davis' charms. Although Seamus seemed more interested in the girl's arse, all things considered, while Dean merely felt that Tracey was a nice girl.

Harry sighed in annoyance and gave a shrug. "With Quidditch starting in three weeks, and all teams trying to get in as many practices before then, it's a bit difficult to schedule them."

Ron nodded his head, commiserating with Harry and secretly glad that he didn't have to deal with that**, **prefect duties were more than enough, thank you very much.

xXx

On the following Monday, as Hermione was exiting from Ancient Runes, someone brushed past her, sending the pile of nine or so books she was carrying crashing to the floor. Feeling her cheeks turning red, Hermione quickly bent and tried to gather the books that went sprawling to the floor, some even skidding several feet away.

She was on her knees, stacking five or six books and beginning to look up to search for the rest of the books in the somewhat crowded hallway, when she was startled to find someone presenting three books to her in a neatly piled stack.

Looking up, she felt heat suffuse her cheeks as she found herself staring at a pair of startling, beautiful, light brown orbs. Their exotic slant, the long, thick, dark lashes that curled and framed those eyes and the high cheekbones beneath left her briefly stunned before her gaze wandered down to smirking pair of full lips.

"Oh... thank you," Hermione muttered embarrassed, as she realized that the handsome boy before her, that could make any girl envious, with his perfect, chocolate skin and beautiful eyes, was none other than Blaise Zabini.

"With the amount of books you carry Granger, it's a wonder you haven't invested in a bag that has Extension and lightening charms on them," the boy told her in a cool and sardonic tone. Hermione, however, was too dazed to reply. When the dark-skinned Slytherin boy merely huffed in mild impatience, before stacking the proffered books he held on her pile, her cheeks further heated in embarrassment.

Hermione was further thrown for a loop when the boy gathered up all the books and straightened himself, before offering her his free hand, almost gallantly, to help her up.

Though still mortified, Hermione found her hand accepting his gentlemanly offer. If it was at all possible, she felt her cheeks get even hotter at the strange electric spark she felt when her hand met his.

She looked up, to see if the boy, who was a head or so taller than her, had felt it and found that he was now looking slightly disconcerted before hiding it behind a slightly irritated mask. "Then again, you should try to not be such a spaz," the boy stated as he pushed the books into her arms before turning on his heel and marching away with all the air of an arrogant, and peeved princeling.

Hermione felt herself wondering why she hadn't been able to say anything, a scowl forming on her face just as Daphne Greengrass walked by her. She was incredibly infuriated with herself that she'd allowed the, admittedly, exceedingly good-looking boy to turn her into just another speechless dolt.

She felt further humiliated when the willowy, beautiful blonde raised a brow at her, her perfect lips lifting in the corner as if she was internally laughing at Hermione.

The blonde was swiftly followed by Tracey Davis, who turned to look at Hermione. However, unlike her two friends, Tracey looked slightly sheepish. She gave Hermione a '_don't mind them'_ look, before she turned to catch up to Daphne, who was a few steps ahead.

However, Tracey didn't get very far and only just caught up with her blonde friend, when a tall Ravenclaw girl walked right up the the red-head and gave her a resounding slap that immediately stopped everyone in the hallway.

Hermione felt her mouth drop open, and raised a hand to cover it as Tracey froze. She could just see in

her peripherals where Blaise Zabini stood beyond his two friends, turn slowly around to see what had occurred.

"What is your problem, Faegan?" Hermione was astonished to hear Daphne Greengrass say in a voice that was loud, and so icy that Hermione felt shivers run up her spine.

For Tracey's part, the girl's face was turned away, hidden behind a veil of her medium-lengthhair. But Hermione could see the girl's arms shaking.

"Davis is my problem, Greengrass. You stay out of this," Audrey Faegan snapped at Daphne, her voice thick with her Irish accent, before turning her gaze back to Tracey who still hadn't looked up.

Blaise Zabini walked up, grabbing Audrey by the wrist and spinning her around. His gaze darkened.

"You're way out of line, Audrey," Blaise grit out, pulling Audrey away from Tracey and placing himself in front of the girl whose dark hair looked like thick blood in the sunlight.

Hermione wandered closer, a part of her desiring to see if Tracey was all right because of the way she was shaking. Perhaps because Daphne Greengrass and Zabini were too busy, focused on the Irish girl to notice the way their friend was shaking.

"You would say that, Blaise! Like always, your little whore can-" Audrey was nearly shouting, but whatever she was about to say was cut off.

Before Hermione's eyes could catch up, a wand appeared in Tracey's hand. The girl that had been quaking with anger, shoved Blaise aside and raised her hand. Blinding red light erupted from her wand and Audrey Faegan was hit square in the chest, and sent sailing through the air and crashing to the ground ten feet away. Her fall was broken by a group of fourth year boys who hadn't moved out of the way fast enough.

"What is going on here?!" a familiar voice screeched, causing everyone in the hall to cringe as they turned and watched the great, pink toad make her way from where she stood by the Defense class.

Hermione grimaced, only then recalling that Ancient Runes took place in the same corridor as Defense and Arithmancy. Though, Defense happened to be all the way at the other end of the corridor. But it seemed it was just enough time for Umbridge to make her way from her classroom to the knot of students to see Tracey use magic.

"Spells are strictly forbidden in the corridors!" Umbridge cried in outrage as she turned to look for the culprit, her eyes landing on Tracey who hadn't stowed away her wand. Professor Vector, along with Audrey Faegan's friends were all gathered around the still unconscious girl.

"That crazy chit attacked me! It was completely self-defense," Tracey yelled, still not in control of her emotions as Hermione watched with wide eyes. She'd never before seen Tracey Davis lose her composure. While she didn't know the Slytherin girl very well, she'd never once seen the girl angry.

"Language, Miss Davis," Umbridge reminded, causing Tracey's arms to lock at her side as she continued to fume. However, she closed her mouth, her berry-colored lips locked in a firm line. Umbridge shook her head as she looked at Tracey, though there was a malignant sparkle in her eyes as she looked at Tracey while she tutted. "This is no way that a young lady should behave. I'm afraid it's going to have to be detention, for a week."

"That's not fair, Professor," Daphne and Blaise both objected, their tones barely managing to stay at polite levels.

"Rules are rules," Umbridge said, with a falsely sweet smile. "And I'm afraid your friend broke them. If she had a little more control, perhaps she'd have been able to avoid all this. My classroom after diner, Miss Davis. Don't be late."

And with that, the vile woman turned away, leaving the three Slytherins glaring after her.

"I fucking hate Umbitch" Tracey growled, reaching up to rub her red cheek.

"I can't believe she gave you detention," Blaise stated, his voice angry and stunned.

"That's because my parents have no political power and I made myself too easy a target," Tracey grumbled before turning to Blaise, adding mentally the fact that she was a half-blood didn't help matters much. "Seriously... why the hell do your jilted dates always come after me?!"

Blaise looked slightly sheepish, but shrugged his shoulders with a put on air of unconcern. "Because I tell them Daphne is a lesbian."

Hermione watched with slight amusement as the blonde slapped Blaise on the arm before huffing and marching away. Blaise made to follow after her after squeezing Tracey's shoulder apologetically.

Walking slowly, Hermione tapped the red-head girl on the shoulder. She winced as she noticed that Tracey's cheek was a blazing red color.

"Are you all right?" Hermione asked in a small voice, and watched as the lime-green eyes softened and the girl offered her a small, tired smile.

"I'm kind of used to it. Although, that's the first time a girl has slapped me. Blaise must be getting better at pissing off his exes," Tracey replied with a small frown before shrugging. "I'll see you later," the girl said before turning on her heel and jogging to catch up to her friends.

Hermione shook her head, piecing together what Audrey Faegan might have been upset about. Blaise Zabini is trouble, Hermione thought dryly, though from the boys looks and attitude, she already knew that.

However, she couldn't help feeling her cheeks heating as she recalled his gorgeous eyes and the shock she felt when they touched. She tried to ignore the nervous fluttering in her stomach as she walked past, the now reenervated, Audrey Faegan, wondering distantly what was wrong with her.

xXx

Later that evening, Tracey found herself grudgingly in Umbridge's horribly pink office. Sitting down, and staring at the parchment laid before her, she couldn't bring herself to do the rather mundane task asked of her as she was too busy staring at the ceramic plates hung on the walls, of cats.

"What are you waiting for Miss Davis?" Umbridge asked her in a falsely sweet voice.

Tracey peeled her pale green eyes away from the plates, and gave Umbridge a dull looks. However, her eyes narrowed when she saw the almost malicious sparkle in the woman's eyes.

Looking down at the black quill with a sharp tip that was provided for her, she chewed on her bottom lip.

"Ink, _Professor_?" Tracey requested, trying to sound polite but the word Professor came out in slightly sarcastic tones.

"You won't need it," Umbridge replied with far too much glee in her tone, that Tracey narrowed her eyes suspiciously at the woman.

Picking up the quill nonetheless, she placed the tip on the paper and thought about how much she'd like to burry the quill in the woman's eyes... or neck. The sheer audacity that she had to write '_I must learn self-control'_ infuriated her.

As the scarlet letters bloomed on the sheet, Tracey stared at them curiously but then winced at the sharp pain on the back of her hand, gritting her teeth to keep from crying out. She paused and stared at her hand, and watched as words blossomed in angry red in her sharp, slanted writing.

She could feel her heart suddenly increase in rate. Her breathing came just a little more shallowly as she realized what just occurred. The words cut deeply into the back of her hand, which were now fading and healing over, left a scarlet-red tinge on the skin.

Tracey had always pressed a bit too heavily on her quills when writing. She went through at least one or two quills a week. The fact that she was so irritated, only made her press harder.

"You can't do this," Tracey whispered in a horrified and angry tone as she looked up towards the woman who was watching her intently.

"Do what?" Umbridge asked oh-so-innocently. Tracey merely lifted her hand in a violent gesture, displaying her reddened skin to the woman. "I don't see anything."

Tracey stared at the saccharine smile she was receiving with wide eyes. For a brief moment, she thought about telling the woman that _this_ was illegal. That her father was an Auror and she would tell him what Umbridge was doing.

However, with her gaze still locked on the awful woman, she thought better of it. She imagined that owls headed out of the castle, were probably being monitored by the Ministry and the only way to deliver her message to her father would be in person. She thought about the fact that Umbridge was Fudge's undersecretary and outranked her father. Furthermore, the idea that she'd have to ask her father for help, was too much to take.

She was still angry with him. She couldn't stand the thought of asking him for help, after he just left them and made no real effort to see her when he got the chance, because his work was more important than her.

She knew her parents hadn't been happy. She knew that her father wasn't completely to blame, though he was mostly to blame, seeing as he cheated on her mother. But now that her parents were divorced for over two years and had joint custody, she'd thought he'd have at least cared enough about her to make an effort to see her whenever he could. But he often let his job take precedence over spending time with Tracey, which Tracey wasn't sure why she was so surprised by this. Her father had always made his work a priority over his family.

She was _not_ asking for his help. He wouldn't be able to do anything anyway. And as angry as she was with the man, as much as she begrudged his job, she couldn't bring herself to put him in a position where he would endanger his job.

Tracey grit her teeth and ducked her head, getting back to work. For now, it seemed her only option, though she made an effort to write much lighter.

She silently worked for hours, concentrating on her breathing, gritting her teeth, clenching her left hand on her thigh, blinking away tears she refused to shed... doing anything she could to keep from crying out in pain. But by the time Umbridge let her go, the damage of that first cut, had been done.

Her skin on the back of her hand was ripped in angry, red words from which spots of blood still clung. The skin was inflamed, and as she quickly made her way to the dungeons, she thought about what she was going to do now.

There wasn't a way she could allow this woman to mangle her skin, night after night. But what could she do?

She'd only made it to the ground floor, when she ran into Blaise and Daphne, who both called out her name to get her to look up.

"It's almost curfew, we were getting worried," Daphne said, her eyes slowly drifting to Tracey's hands. Unconsciously, Tracey had been rubbing around the words etched into her skin, drawing the attention of her friends immediately and causing Daphne to gasp and Blaise to clench his teeth and fist. "What happened?"

"Umbridge is evil," Tracey replied in angry tones as she looked at her ruined hand, hoping that it didn't leave a lasting scar as she explained to her friends what happened.

"You have to tell Professor Snape," Blaise stated, his expression stormy.

Tracey hesitated. She'd been contemplating that, but didn't know if there was a point. It was quite clear that Umbridge had ultimate authority over the teachers and she didn't know if their Head would be able to do anything about it. Knowing how protective he was of them, she didn't want to make the man get in trouble.

"This isn't a suggestion, Trace. You're telling Professor Snape... or we'll tell him for you," Daphne said, her eyes blazing and steel in her voice.

Tracey looked at Daphne for a moment before nodding her head. Tracey knew, if their situations were reversed, Tracey would have done the same. In fact, she'd already done it and it had almost cost her her friendship with Daphne. But in the end, she'd been doing what she thought was best for Daphne. And the ends had justified the means.

Together, the three set off for Professor Snape's office. Briefly, Tracey wondered if she should send her friends ahead of her to Slytherin, but thought better of it. She didn't want to put Professor Snape on edge by seeing him alone in his office so late, and she didn't really think that Blaise or Daphne wanted to leave her. Or if they would really believe she'd told Snape if they left her alone.

"Yes?" Professor Snape asked with a slight furrowing of his brow as they stepped into his office after he called for them to come in. He was seated behind his desk and waited for the three to walk up to his desk, Daphne lagging behind so as to shut the door.

"Professor Umbridge gave me detention for a week," Tracey started, thinking it was better just to get to the matter at hand. "This is what I had to do," Tracey stated, lifting her arm up and showing him the back of her right hand, because it was so much easier than explaining.

Snape's expression became a deep scowl as he swiftly got up from behind his desk and swept around his desk. Tracey didn't flinch at his sudden movements, more or less used to his sharp grace and quick severity he seemed to do almost everything with. Though she was surprised when he took her hand in his and wrenched it close to his face to inspect her hand.

"Why did she give you detention?" Snape asked his voice low and dangerous, the vein in his temple pulsing as he glared down at the words on her hand.

"Audrey Faegan slapped me, when I got out of Ancient Runes, for no reason," Tracey said, still irritated with the audacity of the Ravenclaw girl. "I stunned her, Umbridge caught me."

Snape looked at her, his eyes locking on her own as he stared down at her, looking at her for any sign of deception. His jaw remained locked as he continued to seethe.

"We were there, Professor. We were just leaving Runes when Faegan just walked up to Tracey and slapped her," Daphne collaborated.

Snape let go of Tracey's hand and turned away asking why Faegan would come after Tracey. He rooted around one of the many shelves, before coming back with a small bottle labeled dittany.

"Jealousy," Blaise responded grudgingly, looking at his feet, now ashamed that he'd landed Tracey in this situation.

Professor Snape briefly scowled at Blaise before turning back to Tracey.

"I'll convince Professor Umbridge to allow me to take over your detentions, but I expect you to never land in this situation again," Snape instructed, hissing the end of his sentence before looking at Daphne and Blaise. "You are both going to serve detention with Miss Davis, as you failed to follow our House's fundamental rule of looking after our own."

Daphne and Blaise nodded their heads and ducked them, knowing that they should have expected this and thinking perhaps that they hadn't done everything they could to help Tracey.

"Apply this to your wound for the next couple days, three times a day. It should keep the wound from scarring," he instructed, after quickly applying a light amount to the deep, red cut which healed but remained an angry raw color, the words still visible. "You are free to go."

The three nodded, Daphne and Blaise both jumping to leave the room.

Tracey hesitated as she stared at the bottle of dittany Snape had given to her, holding it in her wounded hand. For a moment, she felt silly tears in her eyes... gratitude that her hand might not scar permanently. Her heart clenched at the knowledge that there was one man in her life she could count on and who wouldn't disappoint her.

Before she could think about it, or allow Professor to react, she launched herself at the man, her arms wrapping around his thin form, her face pressing briefly into his chest. She grinned as she thanked him, partially amused about how stiff his body had become, and leaving a single tear on his black robes before pulling away as quickly as she initiated the hug and leaving the room like a small tornado.

As the door closed behind her small form, Snape shook his head, glad the girl hadn't looked up and that the other two fifth years had left the room when the girl attack-hugged him as he was sure his cheeks were blotchy red.

_Why is it always the small ones that are such trouble?_ He wondered, caught somewhere between fondness and loathing of the small, red-headed child, while still outwardly fuming that someone would dare hurt one of his students.

**TBC...**

**Please review! Also, I'm open to suggestions regarding the story if anyone has something in mind.**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/n:** I think I'm going to start updating this every two weeks. I'm sorry guys, but it's a lot of pressure to write a chapter and have my beta look at it and then go into rewriting and revising at least one more time before posting it. Especially when there are other stories I'm working on simultaneously, one of them which is in a competition as has to be updated weekly. (I should have entered this story into that competition and then this one could be the priority, but it's too late for that.)

Anyway, thanks for bearing with me.

**Prompt:** Only Time Will Tell (#468)

**Chapter 7**

At the following breakfast Tracey, Blaise and Daphne all stared at identical slips of parchment, written in their Head's spidery scrawl, detailing the specifics for their detentions. They were to start that evening, directly after dinner.

Subtly, Tracey looked up at the staff table and trailed her eyes along until she found the pink toad. Though it wasn't immediately apparent, when the woman shifted her gaze to the Slytherin table, it was clear by the scowl she shot at them, that she was incredibly miffed. Tracey couldn't help the triumphant smirk from taking over her face.

"I wish I could have been there to see what Snape said to the toad to get her to turn me over to him," Tracey said with a sigh as she slipped the small scroll of parchment into her her robe pocket.

"Whatever it was, you're going to have to be extra careful around her from now on," Blaise stated with a dark and petulant look as he stuffed his own slip into his trouser pocket in a crumpled heap. "She's going to really have it out for you now."

Tracey wilted slightly at this. She felt exhausted, just thinking about how much effort she'd have to put into doing absolutely nothing wrong when around the toad.

"Do you think we're going to miss... part of the study group because of this?" Daphne asked in small confidential tones. "Snape's scheduled our detentions to be two hours long."

"Only if they schedule one for this week," Tracey replied with a shrug.

Which as luck would have it, did occur.

Tracey let out an audible groan past her lips as she jogged to catch up to Daphne and Blaise after History of Magic.

"Anthony and Terry just told me that there is a meeting, this evening at seven," Tracey complained in small tones as she caught up with her best friends as they started to make their way to the Great Hall for lunch. "We'll still be in detention then. We are totally going to miss it!"

"Wouldn't be the first," Blaise stated, to which he received a shove from Tracey.

"For you, you prat!"

"It's not a big deal, Trace," Daphne said in placating tones, not particularly in the mood for them to have another spat with Blaise so soon after making up. "We'll just... let them know we won't be in attendance."

Tracey sighed, but nodded her head. She'd already informed Anthony and Terry that she'd probably have to miss the meeting because of her detentions.

They'd only just entered the Great Hall when someone shoved by them. Tracey looked up after regaining her balance as she was practically mowed down, only to find herself at the end of a pathetic death glare for Audrey Faegan.

"Salazar, get over it," Tracey said under her breath with a roll of her eyes, not really willing to start an altercation in the middle of the entryway to the Great Hall.

"Oh, didn't I tell you?" Blaise asked, a smirk starting to spread on his face as they made their way to the Slytherin table. "I heard Snape gave Faegan a weeks detention with Filch, starting Monday."

"I'm surprised it wasn't two weeks worth," Daphne said with a raised brow as they all sat down for lunch.

"When and more where did you hear that?" Tracey asked with a furrowed brow as she started to pile food on her plate.

"When I went to the loo, during Charms this morning. I heard a few Ravenclaw sixth years in there. They were complaining that Snape took fifty points from Faegan during their Potions class," Blaise responded, concentrating on what he was putting on his plate.

Tracey smiled, feeling that that almost made up for the fact that she'd been slapped. And she felt quite glad that she'd been sorted into Slytherin. She'd hate to know what it was like to be on the end of Snape's ire to such an extent, as the rest of the student population was.

xXx

"Why does she always do this?" Blaise asked later on with a sigh of exasperation, as they remained behind while Daphne talked to Professor Sprout.

Tracey shrugged from where she stood by the entrance into the Greenhouse, watching as some fifth year Hufflepuffs started to shuffle in. She was at least content that they were done with classes for the day, and that Daphne wasn't making them late for class. Unexcused tardiness to any class was not acceptable to Snape, and grounds for detention in his opinion.

While being a Slytherin meant having a certain amount of favoritism from Snape, it also meant that Snape had higher expectations for their grades and conduct, which was not limited to his class, or class time.

Being chronically late was a habit Snape conditioned out of his Slytherins early on, like any other habits he found unacceptable. Except, of course, where Crabbe and Goyle were concerned. They were hopeless and Snape had done all he could where they were concerned. Thick as bludgers, those two.

"Finally," Tracey teased as Daphne finally joined them. The blonde merely waved her friends off as together they stepped out of the Greenhouses and started to make their way across the grounds. They hadn't made very much progress before they ran into Harry, Ron and Hermione.

"Oh," Tracey said as they came to a full stop in front of each other. Reaching up to her braided hair, Tracey cast a discreet look around to make sure there were no other Slytherins around. "It's fortunate we ran into each other," Tracey said, addressing the three Gryffindors while untying the end of her braid which she put her hair in whenever they had Potions or Herbology. "We're not going to attend this evening's meeting."

"Why?" Ron asked brusquely, his eyes narrowed in suspicion.

Tracey disregarded the tone while Blaise and Daphne both glared at the boy, both tired of his attitude.

"We have to serve two hours detention after dinner, until the week is out," Tracey replied as she unbraided her hair and started to smooth it out.

"You can't get out of it?" Hermione asked at the same time as Harry asked "What happened to your hand?"

Tracey frowned as she pushed her hair over her shoulder. Briefly, she cast a look at the back of her hand before tucking it into the pocket of her school robes. Though the scar was healed over, it was still somewhat noticeable, the skin tinged pale pink. The words were only just visible and though Tracey wasn't an incredibly vain person, the scar made her a bit self-conscious.

"No," Tracey said, turning to look at Hermione and shrugging, deciding that she'd rather not discuss her hand, at least not in public. "Professor Snape's detentions are non-negotiable."

"Professor Snape gave you detention?" Hermione asked slowly, with her brow furrowed.

Tracey grimaced slightly, not having meant to reveal the fact that they had detention with their Head. Though, it did serve to distract the three Gryffindors, who each looked some mixture between surprised, confused and skeptical.

It was a long standing fact that Snape never gave detentions to Slytheirns- in front of non-Slytherins. That, however, did not mean that Snape never gave Slytherins detentions. It was simply done discreetly.

"Well, contrary to popular belief, Professor Snape _does_ assign detentions to Slytherins," Tracey revealed, because she figured that the Gryffindors wouldn't believe her anyway, so why not reveal the truth? At worst, all it would do was start a rumor and their House would quickly put it to rest. It was another facet to being Slytherin. Always present a united front to the rest of the school, in spite of individual disagreements or opinions.

Though, she did catch the look that both Blaise and Daphne shot at her. Both surprised and wary of the fact that she was sharing what were Slytherin secrets. However, neither one was going to say anything about it in present company.

"Snape... gave you detention?" Harry asked slowly and dubiously.

"_Professor_ Snape," Blaise corrected, narrowing his gaze on Harry.

"What a load of bull-"

"Ron!" Hermione cried.

"What did you get detention for?" Harry asked, still sound somewhat incredulous, but also curious now.

Tracey shrugged her shoulders. "You really wouldn't understand," Tracey simply said, because she wasn't willing to share anymore of her House secrets. At least not until the Gryffindors showed that they were willing to let go of their prejudices. "We'll see you," Tracey said, brushing past the Gryffindors, quickly followed by Blaise and Daphne.

"I was starting to think that you were going to tell them everything about how our House works," Blaise said darkly, once they were near to one of the castle entrances.

"That's the goal," Tracey replied simply. Because she knew that if the Gryffindors could understand the inner-workings of Slytherin, perhaps that would do more for their cause. "But it's still too early. And the animosity is still there. Maybe if that wanes a bit..."

Blaise blew a breath out as he realized the scale of the betrayal that they were part of, now. It would be bad enough for them as it was now, if anyone discovered they were associating with Gryffindors. If it was discovered that they revealed the inner-workings of their House to non-Slytherins? They'd have to be removed from Slytherin house to protect them from the backlash, and even then, they'd still be harassed.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Blaise whispered.

"I'm not revealing anything that they wouldn't be able to figure out themselves if they bothered to observe Slytherins and analyze our behavior," Tracey replied in hushed tones. Because the rules and basic tenants of Slytherin House as put forward by Professor Snape were few and simple, that anyone could see them in action if they bothered to pay attention. "Besides, I won't be revealing anything. Not until I know they can be trusted... that they won't stab us in the back."

"Well... that might not happen at all," Daphne said with a tinge of relief to her tone.

Tracey grimaced, but couldn't help thinking that Daphne might be right. Especially as they started to get into the Quidditch season, when the bitter rivalry between Gryffindor and Slytherin reached higher levels of tension.

Tracey grimaced as she wondered what kind of set backs would occur as a result.

**TBC...**

**A/n:** Sorry about the short chapter you guys. I hope next chapter may be a bit longer. As always, please review!


	8. Chapter 8

**A/n:** Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. I'm so sorry about taking so long to update, but life has been a bit crazy. As such, this chapter was submitted without being Beta'd because I just wanted to update already, which is also why it's shorted than I meant it to be. Hopefully the next chapter won't take as long.

**Prompt:** Sharp-Eyed (#182)

**Chapter 8**

"Why are we trying to get them alone?"

Hermione rolled her eyes, thinking that it was fairly obvious as she and Harry trekked through the castle the following day. Briefly, she was thankful that Ron was occupied with the twins. Though, he seemed slightly put out that she'd asked Harry's help, even though she needed the Marauder's map.

"Because clearly, they don't want to be seen with Gryffindors in public. I imagine if anyone in Slytherin got wind of it, that'd make life complicated for them. Besides, it would look very suspicious to Umbridge if we were seen with them."

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Harry grimace. "I still don't get why they bothered joining."

Hermione didn't say anything. She wasn't entirely sure either. They clearly had some kind of agenda, but Hermione didn't think that the three Slytherins were out to sabotage the DA.

She imagined, considering that Anthony and Terry claimed Tracey was the best at Defense in their class (the Ravenclaw/Slytherin half of it), that Tracey and the other two really didn't need extra lessons in Defense. Although, Daphne certainly appeared to need a lot of practice.

_At least she's not perfect at everything, _Hermione thought, though she felt both embarrassed and ashamed to think something quite so petty and unkind. But she tried to convince herself that it would simply have been too unfair for someone _that_ beautiful, smart and kind (as was evident by her interactions with Neville) to also be magically gifted.

Although, Hermione did wonder _why_ Daphne did quite so poorly at Defense. Magic was about intent, and it seemed to take a degree of confidence. Hermione didn't understand how a girl that appeared as put together and proud as Daphne, could lack in confidence, which seemed to only leave intent because Hermione doubted that Daphne Greengrass lacked confidence.

However, Hermione didn't really know what the three Slytherins were up to. And she really hadn't had much chance to ask, or wheedle it out of them. Though, she'd commented about it to Padma Patil and Anthony Goldstein.

Anthony commented that Tracey joined, because she thought it would be fun to be part of an inter-house Defense group.

For Padma's part, the girl had rolled her eyes and commented that Tracey was simply searching for a place to show how much better she and the Slytherins were.

Hermione hadn't been sure what to make of the latter comment. Although, Anthony had chastised his house-mate for saying so. Saying that while Tracey was quick to dismiss most people for one reason or other, that she wasn't by any means a boastful show-off.

"Did you see her hand?" Harry suddenly asked, snapping Hermione out of her thoughts. "She had to have had detention with Umbridge. What do you think she did to Umbridge?"

"Oh... she stunned a sixth-year Ravenclaw in the Hall and Umbridge caught her," Hermione explained.

"Why?" Harry asked, to which Hermione explained the situation. "Wait, but if she had detention with Umbridge, why did she say she had detention with Snape?"

Hermione shrugged her shoulders and thought about that.

"She _did_ seem embarrassed about her hand," Hermione commented thoughtfully. "It could also be for the same reason you didn't want to tell us about it," Hermione said, giving Harry a pointed look as they finally arrived in the library and started to conduct a search for the Slytherin girls that were supposed to be there.

"But if she's the only one with detention, why did the other two not show up?" Harry asked as they started to comb through the library. "Why say they all had detention?"

Hermione didn't reply right away as she thought about it while checking down isles. "Well," Hermione deliberated. "Zabini doesn't seem very interested at all in the group, but he does seem to spend the majority of his time with Tracey and Daphne. I imagine he doesn't see the point in attending if his friends aren't. And Daphne," Hermione frowned in thought. "You know, I don't think I've ever seen her without Tracey. Or alone for that matter."

"Yeah... she's kind of weird. I don't think I've even heard her speak. At least not to anyone but her two friends. And Tracey practically acts like her personal bodyguard," Harry said with a frown, causing Hermione to turn to look at him with a raised brow. "Tracey commented to me about it," he said, scratching his neck in what seemed like slight embarrassment.

"Oh? What did she say?" Hermione asked curious both about what the Slytherin girl said, and about her friend's embarrassment. She didn't know why Harry should feel embarrassed simply for talking to the girl.

"Just that she feels very protective of Daphne," Harry replied with a shrug. "She also said Zabini doesn't get along with anyone else, no surprise there."

Hermione didn't say anything in response to that as they moved up to the second floor of the library, as they had not found the Slytherin girls on the first floor. She hoped that she ran into them soon, because they didn't have much longer before they had to head to their next class.

Instead, Hermione got lost in her thoughts about how strange Daphne Greengrass was, that she didn't seem to go anywhere without Tracey Davis. Or how odd it was that Tracey should feel so protective of her friend, even if said friend had trouble with Defense.

xXx

Tracey lay her head on the table, her eyes closed as she groaned at the thought of Defense that morning. It had been pure torture to be on her very best, behavior. To be sickeningly polite to that toad, after she mangled Tracey's hand, from which the scar hadn't yet vanished, had been a Herculean task.

Presently, she had a huge headache. She felt completely exhausted. And her mind felt mind-numbingly stupid after their class. She should have been working on her Defense homework, but her mind simply couldn't take it anymore. It was simply torture to read that blasted Defense book they were supposed to use, and to use the book, whose verbose passages were like taking a sledge hammer to the brain, and actually write a foot long essay on whatever useful information it might contain was like searching for a colony of merpeople in the Pacific ocean.

_I wonder if I can convince Theo to do my Defense essay, _she thought, chewing her lip.

Theo never did anyone's homework for them, or allowed them to take a peak at his work. Except for Tracey. Not that Tracey abused that power, but she did occasionally ask for Theo to point her in the right direction. Especially where Arithmancy was concerned. Simply put, her and numbers did not mesh. Which was probably why she could do a good deal better in Astronomy, and Potions.

A sigh caused Tracey to tilt her head towards Daphne without lifting it from the table. She watched her blonde friend as she set her book aside.

"So what did you think?" Tracey asked, referring to _Pride and Prejudice_ as Daphne finished reading it.

"Completely predictable, but lovely nonetheless," Daphne replied with a slight quirk of the lips.

Tracey raised her head and shrugged. Of course it was predictable, it was a romance novel. The only way for it to have been unpredictable was if Mr. Darcy had been killed in a duel with Whickham.

"You should read _Persuasion_ next. It's by far my favorite," Tracey suggested. "Or _Mansfield Park_, I'm really fond of that one too."

"Have you read all of Jane Austen's novels?" Daphne asked, raising a brow.

"Except _Sense and Sensibility_," Tracey replied with a nod of her head.

Tracey simply couldn't bring herself to read that one. Something about Marianne Dashwood rubbed her the wrong way. Perhaps it was the way that she fell in love ardently with that one fellow, but barely seemed to know him. It was too ridiculous, and Fairytale-like. People didn't fall in love, not real love, so quickly. To be head over heels for someone you barely met, to the point you make yourself sick over them, was simply behavior Tracey could not tolerate.

Before the girls could get into discussing the novel, Tracey sat up straight as she noticed two people look around the book shelf and stop as they saw them in their nook.

Hermione's eyes darted curiously at the end of the bookcase and she raised her brows as she turned back to the Slytherin girls in surprise.

Daphne had gone rigid and very still, her eyes narrowing on the Gryffindor pair as her face set into mask that was part displeasure but mostly indifference.

"We were looking for you," Hermione said in friendly tones, though it was clear by the expression on her face that she was somewhat nervous.

"Oh?" Tracey asked curiously, smiling in spite of the fact that she felt thrown off-center by the fact that they'd been discovered in their private nook and partially because her head still hurt.

Hermione reached into her robe pocket and pulled out two Galleons, sliding one each over to the Slytherin girls.

"I've placed a Portean Charm on them," Hermione stated by way of explanation, and Tracey noted calculating look in the girl's eyes as Tracey and Daphne picked up their golden coin. Tracey wondered briefly if the Gryffindor Know-It-All was trying to gauge just how intelligent the Slytherin girl's were, by not saying anymore than that.

"Portean Charm?" Tracey asked casually as she briefly studied the Galleon, not seeing anything special about the golden coin.

Beside her, Daphne leaned in closer to her and started to speak in very low tones so as not to be overheard by the Gryffindors, her words concise and cool.

Tracey nodded, her gaze darkening. For a reason she couldn't put her finger on, there was something ringing bells in her mind about the Portean Charm, causing the hair on the back of her neck to stand on end, though Tracey didn't know why.

"I see," Tracey said in quiet tones as she looked over at the Gryffindor pair, choosing to ignore the sense of eeriness she felt. "Am I to take it that this is supposed to serve as a means of communication?"

Absently, her fingers kept flipping the coin over and over as Hermione worked how exactly the coins worked, what the numbers indicated and what they should expect.

Grudgingly, Tracey had to admit that the Galleons were rather ingenious. After all, no one would think anything about the fact that they were carrying around money in their robe pockets.

"We have one for... Zabini as well," Hermione said, seeming uncomfortable as she pulled yet another coin out of her pocket and pushed it over to the Slytherin girls. Tracey tilted her head, wondering why Hermione had suddenly gotten even more awkward at the mention of Blaise while Tracey absently took the other coin and pocketed it.

_Don't tell me Brilliant Hermione Granger has fallen for Blaise's looks too, _she thought with amusement that someone that was generally regarded as clever, logical and intelligent could fall for a pretty face and a bad attitude.

"We'll make sure her gets it," Tracey promised with a small and friendly smile.

"Your had seems to be doing better," Harry suddenly commented, causing all three girls to turn to look at him with varying degrees of surprise.

Self-consciously, Tracey tucked her hand away from sight and smiled at Harry uncomfortably.

"Professor Snape gave me some Dittany to treat it. I think it will be completely gone in a few days," she said with a shrug, trying to keep her cheeks from flushing in embarrassment. She truly hated being such a girl, or coming to terms with the fact that she had any vanity at all.

"Seriously?" Harry asked incredulously, to which Tracey tilted her head in slight confusion, as she didn't know what he found so astounding.

"What?"

"_Snape_... gave you something so that it won't leave permanent scarring?" Harry asked, to which Hermione moaned a quiet Harry at his side, as if he was being rude.

"_Professor_ Snape.. yes," Tracey corrected automatically. "What's so strange about that? He's the Potions Master and my Head of House. Are you saying Professor McGonagall didn't send you to Madam Pomfrey when she saw your hand?"

Tracey didn't really need to ask, to know the answer. She was quite certain Harry wouldn't go to Professor McGonagall if he were in her place. Which she suspected he had been, though she hadn't been studying his hands for evidence.

Potter shifted, looking uncertain and uncomfortable. Beside him, Hermione was frowning.

"Of course she would," Hermione said in mildly indignant and offended tones.

Beside her, Daphne rose from her seat, causing Harry to tense and shoot a wary look to the tall blonde.

"We should go. We can't afford to be late to our next class," Daphne stated after shooting Hermione an icy glare, clearly not caring for Hermione's tone.

Tracey felt somewhat miffed that tensions rose between the four of them, and was slightly annoyed that Daphne was making things worse. She hadn't meant to really imply that Professor McGonagall was worse at her job than Snape, where her students safety was concerned. She'd only wanted to show the Gryffindors that Snape took care of his students.

Though, she could understand Daphne's sudden irritation. If it wasn't one thing, it was another with the Gryffindors. Anything a Slytherin did or said, was regarded as an attack. And while she and Daphne were both trying to be gracious under the Gryffindors attacks, it seemed that Daphne was reaching the end of her tether.

Tracey sighed, wondering why their two houses were so intent on misinterpreting one another.

Gathering her things, she rose as well.

"We'll see you around," Tracey said with a smile as she followed after Daphne and left the two Gryffindors behind.

**TBC...**

**As always, please review. **


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